Memory decline associated with physiological aging and age-related neurological disorders has a direct impact on quality of life for seniors. With demographic aging, the assessment of cognitive functions is gaining importance, as early diagnosis can lead to more effective cognitive interventions. In comparison to classic paper-and-pencil approaches, virtual reality (VR) could offer an ecologically valid environment for assessment and remediation of cognitive deficits. Despite the rapid development and application of new technologies, the results of studies aimed at the role of VR immersion in assessing cognitive performance and the use of VR in aging populations are often ambiguous. VR can be presented in a less immersive form, with a desktop platform, or with more advanced technologies like head-mounted displays (HMDs). Both these VR platforms are associated with certain advantages and disadvantages. In this study, we investigated age-related differences related to the use of desktop and HMD platforms during memory assessment using an intra-subject design. Groups of seniors (N = 36) and young adults (N = 25) completed a virtual Supermarket Shopping task using desktop and HMD platforms in a counterbalanced order. Our results show that the senior performances were superior when using the non-immersive desktop platform. The ability to recall a shopping list in the young adult group remained stable regardless of the platform used. With the HMD platform, the performance of the subjects of both groups seemed to be more influenced by fatigue. The evaluated user experiences did not differ between the two platforms, and only minimal and rare side effects were reported by seniors. This implies that highly immersive technology has good acceptance among aging adults. These findings might have implications for the further use of HMD in cognitive assessment and remediation.

In the metaverse, users will actively engage with 3D content using extended reality (XR). Such XR platforms can stimulate a revolution in health communication, moving from information-based to experience-based content. We outline three major application domains and describe how the XR affordances (presence, agency and embodiment) can improve healthy behaviour by targeting the users’ threat and coping appraisal. We discuss how health communication via XR can help to address long-standing health challenges.

This study investigates the impact of an efficacy-focused virtual reality (VR) intervention designed according to instructional design principles on eating behavior. In the preregistered intervention study, psychology students were randomly assigned to nine seminar blocks. Employing parallel design, they were allocated to either a VR intervention to experience the environmental impact of food behavior (1) and alter the future by revising food choices (2) or to a passive control condition. The data from 123 participants (78% female, mean age 25.03, SD = 6.4) were analyzed to investigate the effect of the VR intervention on dietary footprint measured from 1 week before to 1 week after the intervention. The VR intervention decreased individual dietary footprints (d = 0.4) significantly more than the control condition. Similarly, the VR condition increased response efficacy and knowledge to a larger extent compared to the control. For knowledge, the effect persisted for 1 week. The VR intervention had no impact on intentions, self-efficacy, or psychological distance. Additional manipulation of normative feedback enhanced self-efficacy; however, manipulation of geographical framing did not influence psychological distance. This research received no financial support from any funding agency and was registered on 15/09/2021 at Open Science Foundation with the number https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/2AXF3.

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) has the potential to play an important role in increasing environmental literacy by providing individuals the opportunity to experience plausible scenarios of climate change directly. However, there is currently little evidence for the role of IVR, and for specific design features, in increasing environmental self-efficacy. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of an IVR intervention on pro-environmental intentions, knowledge, and transfer. A total of 90 middle school students were randomly assigned to two IVR intervention conditions: (a) Awareness, in which students experience the impact of their current food choices on future environmental change; (b) Awareness + Efficacy, in which students had the opportunity to change their food choices and experience the positive impact of this on future environmental change. Both interventions resulted in significant increases in intentions, knowledge, and transfer. However, the Awareness + Efficacy condition resulted in further significant increases in intentions and transfer than the awareness condition. Finally, mediation analysis showed that the effect of the Awareness + Efficacy condition on intentions and transfer was fully mediated by self-efficacy. These results suggest that allowing students not just to experience climate change but also to see the positive impact of changed personal choices can maximize the effectiveness of IVR on intentions and transfer.