Startup VRTU to tackle Dementia Using Virtual Reality
by Startacus Admin
Virtual reality can be used for travelling to other worlds to shoot aliens, bringing Vikings back to life, ride roller coasters, or even as the central feature of a theme park!
But it can be used for far more important, real world things too.
We have written previously about how virtual reality can and will take a role in various areas of our lives, including medicine and education, however there is now a VR startup tackling one of the most frightening waking nightmares in today’s society: dementia.
UK-based VRTU uses virtual reality to approach reminiscence therapy in a new way. Reminiscence therapy is a method by which dementia patients are exposed in some way to stimulus that helps to unlock feelings, emotions, or memories. This can be anything from simply music from a period of their life to the amazing work some have put into creating entire villages for dementia patients to live normal lives. VRTU offers an app to do this job, with a range of experiences designed to stimulate cognition.
The app works on an average smartphone, which is then put into any mobile VR headset. The wide range of experiences to choose from means that it can be tailored for each patient, with a customised playlist to go along with it. If a trip on an Oxford steam train in 1955 isn’t up the patient’s alley, perhaps a 1959 San Francisco house will be. There is a companion app for others to share the experience, and this includes information on things in the scene, as well as prompts to encourage conversation and trigger memories.
Real world locations set up to look and function like places from patients’ younger days have proven very beneficial to their cognition, but for patients who cannot benefit from these few locations, a virtual reality environment as offered by VRTU sounds like it could be the next best thing.
We look forward to seeing where this innovative VR startup heads next, and wish the team well with their entrepreneurial endeavours going forward...
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
The inaugural LINEUP tech event, happening in Derry, NI has announced key speakers, sponsors and themes for its 5th March event.
Take advantage of today’s digitised world! Here are 4 reasons digital marketing could work for you and your business.
Research shows that the majority of staff prefer benefits to high monetary compensation. Here are some ideas on how to increase talent retention...
Innovative project launched by UK Proptech startup to reduce workers' commuting and in turn help alleviate pollution and congestion
Startup funding is never easy, however here are a few of the options that can help you fund your startup without going broke in the process
The future and success of Britain’s high streets has been long debated. So, what are the tech trends that could help impact the Highstreet in 2020?
Innovative startups are currently being sought by BMW Group Financial Services UK which has just launched the third instalment of its Innovation Lab
Starting a business can be a lot of hard work, so here's a few ways to avoid burnout and find a healthy work life balance.
The child health app on a mission to become the first nationwide digital redbook, just got a step closer to making their mission a reality...
The Cambridge-based startup that has created an empowering tool to drive the next wave of biological innovation
Published on: 9th July 2017
.png)
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Lineup 2020 announces key speakers, sponsors and themes 27th Jan 2020 The inaugural LINEUP tech event, happening in Derry, NI has announced key speakers, sponsors and themes for its 5th March event.
- Ideation NI Thon at NI Science Festival sets out to solve global issues 17th Jan 2020 At one-day event Ideation NI Thon, students will get the chance to solve global and local sustainability, environmental, city and health problems.
- NI startup ESTHER takes flight to New York 16th Jan 2020 NI startup ESTHER, a peer-2-peer giving platform allowing charitable donors to give money directly to people living in poverty, head to New York for a 4-day fact finding mission.
- 2019 stats show that the gender pay gap continues 14th Jan 2020 Recent research by Starling bank shows that in 2019, women earned up to £12,319 less per year than their male colleagues of the same age and within the same industry
