Work

Beyond Control: Access, embodiment, and therapeutic interaction in VR for older adults – insights from a co-design workshop

Year: 2026

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: This paper examines interaction design challenges in virtual reality (VR) therapeutic applications for older adults in geriatric and palliative care. Drawing on a co-design workshop with six clinical psychologists, the study explores how interaction unfolds across the full trajectory of therapeutic VR use – from preparation and onboarding through immersion to post-session reflection. The findings reveal that interaction emerges through the ongoing negotiation of diverse embodied conditions, therapeutic mediation, and clinical environments. Informed by disability studies and critical access perspectives, the paper argues that therapeutic VR systems actively shape conditions of participation, autonomy, and engagement, advancing an understanding of participation as a situated, interdependent, and care-dependent achievement.

Source: Proceedings of the International Conference on Disability Virtual Reality & Associated Technologies

DOI: 10.54337/aau.icdvrat26.43

Authors: B. Sosity Pintérné, P.T. Szabo, S. Chovanec, A.K. Bakk

Institution: Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design

Language: English

Topic: Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts

Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovaciós Alap