There is growing interest in applications of virtual reality (VR) to improve the lives of older adults, but the limited research on older adults and VR largely treats older adults as a monolith, ignoring the substantial differences across 65 to 100+ year olds that may affect their experience of VR. There are also few existing studies examining the experiences and challenges facing those who facilitate VR for older adults (e.g., caregiving staff). We address these limitations through two studies. In study 1, we explore variation within older adults' experiences with VR through a field study of VR use among a large (N = 245) and age-diverse (Mage = 83.6 years, SDage = 7.9, range = 65-103 years) sample of nursing home and assisted living facility residents across 10 U.S. states. Age was negatively associated with the extent to which older adults enjoyed VR experiences. However, the negative relationship between age and older adults' attitudes toward VR was significantly less negative than the relationship between age and their attitudes toward other technologies (cell phones and voice assistants). In study 2, we surveyed caregiving staff (N = 39) who facilitated the VR experiences for older adult residents and found that the caregiving staff generally enjoyed the activity relative to other activities and felt it to be beneficial to their relationship with residents.

中文翻译：

---

从 65 岁到 103 岁，老年人对虚拟现实的体验因年龄而异：来自疗养院和辅助生活设施大规模实地研究的证据。

人们对应用虚拟现实 (VR) 来改善老年人的生活越来越感兴趣，但对老年人和 VR 的有限研究很大程度上将老年人视为一个整体，忽略了 65 岁至 100 岁以上人群之间的巨大差异，这些差异可能会影响老年人的生活质量。影响他们的 VR 体验。现有的研究也很少考察那些为老年人提供虚拟现实服务的人（例如护理人员）所面临的经历和挑战。我们通过两项研究解决了这些局限性。在研究 1 中，我们通过对大量（N = 245）和不同年龄（Mage = 83.6 岁，SDage = 7.9，范围 = 65-103 岁）的 VR 使用情况进行实地研究，探讨了老年人使用 VR 体验的差异。美国 10 个州的疗养院和辅助生活设施居民样本。年龄与老年人享受 VR 体验的程度呈负相关。然而，年龄与老年人对 VR 的态度之间的负面关系明显小于年龄与他们对其他技术（手机和语音助手）的态度之间的负面关系。在研究 2 中，我们调查了为老年居民提供 VR 体验的护理人员 (N = 39)，发现护理人员相对于其他活动普遍喜欢这项活动，并认为这有利于他们与居民的关系。