VR usability from elderly cohorts: Preparatory challenges in overcoming technology rejection
Abstract
Virtual Reality (VR) usability is an emerging area that has made rapid progress among early adopters, but has so far failed to address the concerns of late adopters. In particular, elderly cohorts stand to benefit greatly from VR technologies as they enter areas of assistive technology, gerontechnology, and authentic modes of training. This study examined technology rejection criteria from a sample of 19 retired persons by comparing normative and VR practices for the fundamental learning of navigation using Google Earth mapping. This research discovered that three dimensional fear was a major factor in determining the acceptance and rejection of VR as a usable instrument for training elderly people in the use of navigation by means of enhanced mapping. This study examines the hypothesis that in combination, physical and pseudo physical realities require a range of preparatory exercises to acclimatize older users towards a stress-free approach to VR adoption. This study aimed to reveal new understanding about technology rejection in older populations, in particular where the physical presence of the wearing of VR equipment, in combination with the psychological and mental fear of the 3D experience, brought about high levels of technology rejection. Hesitation to accept VR equipment across both physical and perceptual boundaries is problematic for elderly users where rich 3D experiences are a requirement for successful, purposeful, and authentic tasking.
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The number of buttons caused problems, with participants forgetting the function of each of them over time.
“The number of buttons also caused problems, with participants forgetting the function of each of them over time [45].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
Issues with the handheld controllers were reported in 5/13 of the studies, including poor ergonomics, awkward feeling and positioning, and smoothness of the buttons.
“Issues with the handheld controllers were reported in 5/13 of the studies and included poor ergonomics of the controllers [15,45] and the awkward feeling and positioning [15,45] and smoothness of the buttons [45].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
Participants in 11/13 of the studies reported issues with the HMD, including that it was too heavy, caused general discomfort, caused disorientation and imbalance, and caused feelings of being trapped, confined, afraid, or anxious.
“Participants in 11/13 of the studies reported issues with the HMD, including that it was too heavy [9,44,45,48,50]; caused general discomfort [9,15,16,44,50]; caused disorientation and imbalance [44,46]; and caused feelings of being trapped, confined [45], afraid, or anxious [16,45].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
Perceptions of the audiovisual quality of IVR hardware varied across studies, with 5/13 of the studies reporting some form of audiovisual issue such as volume not being at the right level or not clear enough, or sound from the physical environment negatively affecting the IVR experience.
“Perceptions of the audiovisual quality of IVR hardware varied across studies [14,16,45,48-52]. A total of 5/13 of the studies reported some form of audiovisual issue [14,45,49-51], with feedback that the volume was not at the right level or was not clear enough [45,49-51] or that sound coming from the physical environment could negatively affect the IVR experience [45].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
Self-awareness of HMDs that were tethered to a computer caused concerns that participants would damage the cable or be electrocuted if they stood on it.
“Self-awareness of HMDs that were tethered to a computer also caused concerns as participants were worried that they would damage the cable or be electrocuted if they stood on it [45].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
There was a temporal pattern in older adults' perceptions of IVR across stages of use, illustrating the importance of users' preconceptions and how they can differ from actual experience, with a generally negative impression before use changing to a generally positive impression after use.
“There was a temporal pattern identified in the data that consisted of older adults’ perceptions of IVR across stages of IVR use (perceptions of IVR [9,14-16,44-52]). It began with older adults’ perceptions of IVR before use, followed by their perceptions during and immediately after use. This pattern illustrates the importance of users’ preconceptions of a given technology and how they can differ”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
Most of the preconceptions reported were negative, with a general sense that IVR was a frivolous undertaking with little benefit to older adults and better suited to younger generations, some participants worried they would forget how to use the handheld controllers, others were concerned about glasses and HMD damage, and 1/13 hoped IVR would broaden their horizon.
“Most of the preconceptions reported were negative [15,44,45], with a general sense that IVR was a “frivolous undertaking” with little benefit to older adults and better suited to younger generations [45]. Some participants worried that they would forget how to use the handheld controllers [15], whereas others were concerned about whether their glasses could be worn with the equipment and, if so,”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
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- Authors
- Coldham, G., & Cook, D. M.
- Affiliations
- Edith Cowan University (AU)
- ORCID
- Cook, David M.
- Venue
- 2017 National Information Technology Conference (NITC)
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Published
- 2017-09
- Pages
- 131-135
- OpenAlex
- W2784766352
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 8.94
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- National Information Technology Conference (NITC) (publishedVersion)
- Research Online (Edith Cowan University) (submittedVersion)
- Edith Cowan University Research Online (Edith Cowan University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- resistance to technology, older adults, gerontechnology, assistive technology, navigation training, Google Earth, late adopters
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