We bet there’s plenty of questions in your head. We’re more than happy to answer all of them individually, but to save your time, we’ve put together the most common ones.
Step by step, you’ll find out why you don’t have to worry about these four basic concerns:
As a technology or medium, definitely yes! However, only if its content is tailored to the specific needs of the elderly. Various virtual reality (VR) applications for the elderly, including those with more advanced stages of dementia, are commonly developed and tested around the world. Take a look for example at these studies from all around the world, which demonstrated the potential of VR to activate even the oldest.
The vast majority of our travellers enjoy Kaleido experiences without any unpleasant feelings. Of course, it can happen that the VR headset just won’t fit someone that well and they won’t feel good in a new environment. In such a case, the activation worker can help to quickly put the headset off, before nausea occurs.
In general, virtual reality can eventually make you feel dizzy or nauseous even if you are a completely healthy, young athlete – this might be the case of those who are more prone to sickness even when reading a book on the bus. The greatest risk of nausea is associated with the dynamic movements in virtual reality when our head completely confuses our body (because we remain static in the real world). That’s why our experiences avoid any fast movements and primarily include only scenes from a standing or seating position, or a very slow-paced walk.
Generally: Yes, it can definitely be suitable. However, it largely depends on the type of VR content and the health status of a particular elderly person.
We have proven that our experiences can nicely activate memories, which can be extremely beneficial for grannies and grandpas with dementia. However, at the same time, keep in mind that virtual reality is very immersive. Thanks to virtual reality, one really transfers to another place for a moment.
We don’t have our own medically confirmed conclusions about how people with dementia react to such immersion and transportation. Therefore, we can’t officially recommend the use of Kaleido in such cases. We believe that you know the particular clients from your facility the best, and so you can better anticipate whether a virtual trip would be suitable for them at the moment. In case of any unpleasant feelings, the experience can be ended immediately – you simply help the client take off the headset and that’s it.
Some of the studies about the potential of VR for the elderly that we’ve found for you are focused especially on grannies and grandpas with dementia. And if this issue is really important for you, we would be happy to discuss it more in-depth with you – feel free to reach us via email at info@kaleido.tours.
From the start, we have been co-creating Kaleido together with the activation teams of Czech nursing homes. Our application has been through several rounds of testing. And in cooperation with 40 facilities in our pilot programme, we collected feedback on our experiences from both the clients and activation therapists, so that we could make our content even better in the future.
For sure you will, no worries – without any problem! We’ve designed everything so that you can work with Kaleido in activation therapy easily and comfortably. Plus, you don’t even need us for any initial setup or training.
You will receive a box with a VR headset and accessories delivered via mail. Watch our instructional video, read a simple web manual, and you can take off for your first virtual trips!
In terms of the ease of use, we have very positive feedback from all the facilities where Kaleido is already in action. You definitely don’t need to be an IT expert, just a little practice and you’re all good. There’s only a handful of tasks with the VR headset that you have to learn in order to use our virtual experiences.
You don’t need anything but what will be sent to you by mail – one VR Kaleido headset and a charging cable! We have deliberately chosen the type of headset that needs no additional hardware.
You don’t have to connect the headset to any phone or computer. Simply turn it on, run the pre-installed Kaleido application, and set out on a trip.
100%! All of our VR headsets have a special insertion that expands the space between the lenses and the user’s head. Thanks to this, your elderly clients do not have to take their prescription glasses off at all, they can simply put Kaleido over them. Just be careful not to accidentally damage the prescription glasses when putting Kaleido on.
Sure, that’s exactly who we created Kaleido for in the first place! We wanted to deliver rich sensations from the outside world to people for whom it’s very difficult to even leave their room. That’s why we opted for VR headsets that are really light and can be easily transferred between clients’ rooms (after disinfection, of course). You can easily visit around eight clients with our VR tours at one charge. Then you let the headset recharge in the office for a while, and soon you can continue delivering experiences to grannies and grandpas right to their beds.
The fun part is that the elderly don’t even have to control it at all! All our virtual experiences are deliberately passive for the elderly in the sense that they do not have to the control VR headset in any way. The activation therapist chooses the experience they are most excited about with them, she helps them start Kaleido and that’s it. Then they can enjoy the whole experience, engaged in conversations with the narrator, and looking around in each scene. And if needed, the nursing home staff can pause or turn off the experience at any time using the controller.
In the future, we plan to develop interactive features that will allow the elderly to actively control the experience. However, such a type of tour will most useful for those in really good condition, and for those who are getting on well with new technologies. And so far we’ve learned that the most enjoyable experiences for the elderly are those which require no technical action at all.
Certainly not. Since we’ve been in close contact with activation teams in many nursing homes from the beginning, we understand very well that facility staff usually have very little time left and only limited technical background. That’s why we designed the Kaleido tool so that you can work with it easily and comfortably in any nursing home.
You can recharge Kaleido rapidly with a classic smartphone charger. You will learn how to operate it very fast by virtue of the web manual and instructional video. And you need nothing but the VR headset to use Kaleido in your therapy sessions – no other phone or computer, not even headphones.
Just dial our number or send an email – we will always be there ready and happy to help. Technology can be annoying at times, as you probably know for yourself, and virtual reality is still a very young technology, so VR headsets are not perfect, flawless devices either. But we can assure you that there will always be a solution – worst case scenario, we will send you a new headset.
For Kaleido, we chose Oculus Go VR headsets, specifically a model with 64GB of memory. It is light, very comfortable, and suitable for users with prescription glasses as well. It also offers high enough resolution for the elderly with poor eyesight to still see the images quite well. Moreover, it doesn’t require any additional hardware from you, neither a new smartphone nor a powerful computer.
Compared to this model, more expensive VR headsets have only one main advantage, and that is the possibility of movement in 3D space. However, our experiences are basically short movies that would not react to such a movement anyway. Moreover, the best way for the elderly to enjoy a virtual trip is nicely and comfortably from their armchair or bed, with no need to get up and dance around.
On the other hand, cheaper VR devices aren’t of sufficient quality. For example, there is the Google Cardboard, a folding smartphone attachment that mimics virtual reality very inexpensively, but the images it includes certainly can’t even come close to the delight in watching Oculus Go movies – because they are limited by the resolution of your phone’s display.
As we all learned from the media throughout 2020, the virus can be actually transmitted on any device and surface, including VR headsets. However, together with you, we can minimize the risk of transmitting the infection to almost zero.
When used properly, grandmothers and grandfathers only touch their Kaleido headsets with their foreheads. Both the activation staff and the elderly should wear facemasks and disinfect their hands and foreheads. The worker manipulates with the headset, turns it on, and start the selected experience with the controller. Then they have enough time to place the headset on the client’s head and possibly help them tighten the straps so that it fits well. They have to touch neither the VR headset nor the remote control. At the end of the trip, the worker takes and disinfects Kaleido. Later on, the worker can visit another client without endangering their health.
Yes, disinfection is a matter of course for us. The grannies’ and grandpas’ health must always come first! During the pandemic, both the staff and the client-traveller should wear facemasks and have their heads and foreheads disinfected. The VR headset itself can be disinfected quickly using a non-abrasive disinfectant suitable for plastics, electronics, and fabrics (eg. disinfection wipes). When wiping off the individual parts of Kaleido, you only need to avoid the optical lenses inside, which could be irreparably damaged by disinfection.
Accidents do happen, we all know that well. Even with the best of intentions, Kaleido may fall to the ground by mistake. But don’t worry, we thought of everything. Our VR headsets are insured, so even in case they break, everything will be solved without any problems.
From the very beginning, we try to build an attractive and varied selection of experiences so that everyone can enjoy their cup of tea. Within the Kaleido application, you will find travelling tours from all around Europe. Trips that are rich in historical commentaries, but also atmospheric nature expeditions. Cultural experiences of all kinds, including private concerts and museum walks. Relaxed stretching and meditation in the forest or on the seashore. And we still have other kinds of experiences up our sleeve for the future – just wait and see!
Certainly not. We will deliver you at least one new experience every week. Our offer will be gradually more and more interesting and varied. So that grandmas and grandpas at your facility always have something to look forward to!
We create all the experiences for the Kaleido activation tool from the scratch, all by ourselves. We have a team of talented filmmakers, editors, translators, and voice actors who always put the whole experience together, from filming to recording a narrative commentary. Only thanks to this we have full control over the entire content creation process, and we can guarantee that our experiences are really suitable for the elderly in all aspects.
Don’t worry, we won’t have to commute to you every week with new experiences! Everything works contactless – we will upload the latest trip to the Internet and the Kaleido VR headset will download it easily via the Wi-Fi network at your facility. To use Kaleido, you don’t have to be online, you just need to connect your headset to Wi-Fi once in a while, for example in the office or at home.
All the benefits that Kaleido brings to the elderly grow over time. We do our best to make Kaleido an effective tool for mental and physical activation in the long run, not just temporarily or even for single use. That is why we offer the tool in the form of a membership in our program with a monthly fee, for which you will receive, in addition to a rented and insured VR headset, our technical support, educational materials, but mainly access to all our content and a regular supply of more amazing virtual experiences.
Only by virtue of your stable financial participation, we are able to provide you with all the services, develop Kaleido further, create better and better experiences, and boost the quality of social care together.
