Oxfordshire care home residents have “walked” for up to three kilometres while sitting in their armchairs as part of a virtual reality trial.

Oxfordshire County Council’s Innovation Hub worked with Oxford-based tech start-up company ROVR Systems and staff and residents at two care homes in Oxfordshire to develop the technology.

The 17-month trial, funded by a £350,000 Innovate UK grant, aimed to investigate whether virtual reality (VR) can improve the health and wellbeing of older people with limited mobility. The research involved residents at Fairfield Residential Home and Auditcare’s Mon Choisy care home, as well as assisted living sites in Cornwall.

VR headsets were connected to specialist seated treadmills allowing the user to move their feet while sitting in a chair. For those with greater mobility, there was an option for a more active exploration by using a safety-enhanced standing treadmill.

An image was projected onto the visor screen, giving the user the chance to explore a variety of areas of the UK and abroad, meeting other users taking a similar virtual journey. Care workers could also join the walk on a digital tablet, giving them the chance to have conversations along the way.

The trial results showed residents walked distances of between 300m and 3km per session and enjoyed seated immersive experiences for up to 40 minutes. Before the trial residents had only registered up to few hundred steps per day. The evaluation found residents competed with themselves to walk further than their last effort and were even more competitive when walking with others.  User feedback also showed participants felt a strong sense of achievement when told how far they had explored.

Maddie Gillies, social wellbeing co-ordinator at Fairfield Residential Home, supported residents who took part in the trial. She said: “Watching our residents using the VR for the first time was fantastic. Once they were used to the technology, they really relaxed into it and spent some considerable time walking around their virtual worlds. It was the perfect way to help residents move more freely, meeting other people and sparking conversations about places they had visited in their life.”

Councillor Tim Bearder, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said: “Innovation is a key part of how we are transforming the way we deliver adult social care in Oxfordshire. By using modern technology, we can enable people to live well, making their lives richer and more fulfilling.”

ROVR Systems now hopes to use the technology to help benefit people with limited mobility up and down the country. Charles King, ROVR Systems chief executive officer, said: “We have seen our VR technologies expand the horizons of people whose worlds have shrunk, providing safe opportunities for social connections, learning and unwitting exercise. These wonderful experiences enhance their lives and further build caring relationships with the fantastic staff.”

He added: “We have witnessed glimpses of the real person where advanced dementia otherwise hides these interesting people, and seen new connections and insights for caring staff with people who usually don’t engage in activities.”