ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mental Health Occupational Therapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1570594
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Use of Technology in Mental Health Occupational TherapyView all articles
Cognition in Virtual Reality: Assessing User Acceptability and Feasibility of Virtual Reality Cognitive Screening for Older Adults
Provisionally accepted
Frank Ho Yin LAI1*
Benjamin K Yee2
Eileen Hanjie WANG2
Joe Butler3Andrew Graham4Eddie Yip-kuen HAI5Cath Darling1Stephanie Whittington1Julie-anne LOWE1- 1Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- 2Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 3School of Psychology, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, United Kingdom
- 4School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middleborough, United Kingdom
- 5Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, United Kingdom, Sunderland, United Kingdom
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The global demographic shift towards an older population necessitates innovative methods to assess cognitive abilities, particularly spatial working memory, which is crucial for daily living and early detection of neurocognitive conditions like Alzheimer's disease. This qualitative study utilised the Virtual Reality Working Memory Task (VRWMT), a semi-immersive VR activity using keyboard navigation, to assess spatial working memory in older adults. Participants were recruited from community centres and categorised by age and technological familiarity. Focus groups evaluated user perceptions based on the Technology Acceptance Model constructs: Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Attitude Toward Usage, and Behavioural Intention to Use. The study aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of VRWMT across diverse populations, examining its navigational simplicity, emotional engagement, and willingness to endorse VRWMT for routine cognitive assessments. Findings indicated significant variations in perceived usefulness, ease of use, attitude toward using, and behavioural intention to use across different age groups and socio-demographic characteristics. High-technology-familiarity participants found VRWMT easy to use and engaging, while those with low familiarity struggled with navigation and engagement. Socio-demographic factors such as limited digital literacy and lack of standby support impact technology adoption. Higher technological familiarity leads to better acceptance and feasibility of VRWMT. VRWMT can enhance cognitive health monitoring and therapeutic interventions. The results highlighted that personalised pathways and user-friendly interfaces can improve accessibility and engagement, making VRWMT a valuable tool for cognitive assessments, as part of Occupational Therapy, in diverse populations.
Keywords: Spatial-working memory, Technology acceptance model, virtual reality, Acceptibility, feasibility
Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 23 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 LAI, Yee, WANG, Butler, Graham, HAI, Darling, Whittington and LOWE. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Frank Ho Yin LAI, Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.