Virtual reality (VR) can be useful in efforts that aim to improve the well-being of older members of society. Within this context, the work presented in this paper aims to provide the elderly with a user-friendly and enjoyable virtual reality application incorporating memory recall and storytelling activities that could promote mental awareness. An important aspect of the proposed VR application is the presence of a virtual audience that listens to the stories presented by elderly users and interacts with them. In an effort to maximize the impact of the VR application, research was conducted to study whether the elderly are willing to use the VR application and whether they believe it can help to improve well-being and reduce the effects of loneliness and social isolation. Self-reported results related to the experience of the users show that elderly users are positive towards the use of such an application in everyday life as a means of improving their overall well-being.

Virtual Reality (VR) can be useful in efforts that aim to improve wellbeing of older members of the society. Within this context, the work presented in this paper aims to provide to elderly a user-friendly and enjoyable Virtual Reality (VR) application incorporating memory recalling and storytelling activities that can promote mental awareness, so that negative side effects related to brain inactivity are prevented. An important aspect of the proposed VR application is the presence of a virtual audience that listens to the stories presented by elderly users, and interacts with the user. In an effort to maximize the impact of the VR application, research was conducted to study whether the elderly are willing to use the VR application and whether they believe it can help to improve well-being and reduce the effects of loneliness and social isolation. The results show that elderly users are positive towards the use of such an application in everyday life, as a means of improving their overall well-being.

The increase of the percentage of elderly population in modern societies dictates the use of emerging technologies as a means of supporting elder members of the society. Within this scope, Extended Reality (XR) technologies pose as a promising technology for improving the daily lives of the elderly population. This paper presents a literature review that describes the most common characteristics of the physical and mental state of the elderly, allowing readers, and specifically XR developers, to understand the main difficulties faced by elderly users of extended reality applications so they can develop accessible, user friendly and engaging applications for the target audience. Furthermore, a review of existing extended reality applications that target the elder population is presented, allowing readers to get acquainted with existing design paradigms that can inspire future developments.