With virtual-reality goggles, anyone can visit remote places. Local senior living communities, such as Inspīr Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., find that residents get to know each other better after virtual-reality experiences — and some even improve their memory. Photo courtesy of Rendever

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Like many retirement communities, The Terraces serves as a tranquil refuge for a nucleus of older people who no longer can travel to faraway places or engage in bold adventures.

But they can still be thrust back to their days of wanderlust and thrill-seeking whenever caretakers at the community in Los Gatos, California, schedule a date for residents — many of whom are in their 80s and 90s — to take turns donning virtual-reality (VR) headsets.

Within a matter of minutes, the headsets can transport them to Europe, immerse them in the ocean depths or send them soaring on breathtaking hang-gliding expeditions while they sit near each other.

The selection of VR programming was curated by Rendever, a company that has turned a sometimes-isolating form of technology into a catalyst for better cognition and social connections in 800 retirement communities in the United States and Canada.

A group of The Terraces residents who participated in a VR session last year found themselves paddling their arms alongside their chairs as they swam with a pod of dolphins while watching one of Rendever’s 3D programs.

“We got to go underwater and didn’t even have to hold our breath!” exclaimed 81-year-old Ginny Baird following the virtual submersion.

During a session featuring a virtual ride in a hot-air balloon, one resident gasped, “Oh my God!” Another shuddered, saying, “It’s hard to watch!”

Travel to childhood home

The Rendever technology can also be used to virtually take older adults back to the places where they grew up as children. For some, it will be the first time they’ve seen their hometowns in decades.

A virtual trip to her childhood neighborhood in New York City’s Queens borough helped sell Sue Livingstone, 84, on the merits of the VR technology even though she still is able to get out more often than many residents of The Terraces, which is located 55 miles south of San Francisco.

“It isn’t just about being able to see it again; it’s about all the memories that it brings back,” Livingstone said.

“There are a few people living here who never really leave their comfort zones. But if you could entice them to come down to try out a headset, they might find that they really enjoy it,” she added.

Tested in D.C.

The technology is catching on in our area. At Inspīr Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., residents can virtually visit faraway landmarks, beaches or cities once or twice a week.

VR has proved helpful for memory-care residents, who can reconnect with familiar experiences and ease agitation.

“Virtual reality allows residents to revisit memories or explore new places, and we have consistently seen improvements in mood and reduced anxiety after virtual reality sessions,” said Madeline Diaz, memory care director at Inspīr Embassy Row.

“It has truly become an important tool in supporting our residents’ well-being and sense of independence.”

Another community, Country Meadows, with locations in Frederick, Maryland, and York, Pennsylvania, partnered with Rendever to allow its residents to fly.

“We have a World War II veteran who wanted to experience being in the cockpit of a plane again. Through Rendever and their creativity, we were able to recreate that type of experience for him,” Kim Eichinger, executive director of Dynamic Living at Country Meadow, told a local TV station.

Adrian Marshall, The Terraces’ community life director, said that once word about a VR experience spreads from one resident to another, more of the uninitiated typically become curious enough to try it out.

“It turns into a conversation starter for them. It really does connect people,” Marshall said of Rendever’s VR programming.

“It helps create a human bridge that makes them realize they share certain similarities and interests. It turns the artificial world into reality.”

Grant from NIH

Rendever, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, hopes to build upon its senior living platform with a recent grant from the National Institutes of Health that will provide nearly $4.5 million to study ways to reduce social isolation among seniors living at home and their caregivers.

The tech company also offers dementia and empathy training via VR, showing staff, caregivers and family members what it’s like to live with dementia.

Some studies have found VR programming presented in a limited viewing format can help older people maintain and improve cognitive functions, burnish memories and foster social connections with their families and fellow residents of care facilities. Experts say the technology may be useful as an addition to and not a replacement for other activities.

“There is always a risk of too much screen time,” said Kate Dupuis, a neuropsychologist and professor who studies aging issues at Sheridan College in Canada.

“But if you use [VR] cautiously, with meaning and purpose, it can be very helpful. It can be an opportunity for the elderly to engage with someone and share a sense of wonder.”

Never too old for tech

VR headsets may be an easier way for older people to interact with technology instead of fumbling around with a smartphone or another device that requires navigating buttons or other mechanisms, said Pallabi Bhowmick, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is examining the use of VR with older adults.

“The stereotype that older adults aren’t willing to try new technology needs to change because they are willing and want to adapt to technologies that are meaningful to them,” Bhowmick said.

“Besides helping them to relieve stress, be entertained and connect with other people, there is an intergenerational aspect that might help them build their relationships with younger people who find out they use VR and say, ‘Grandpa is cool!’”

Rendever CEO Kyle Rand’s interest in helping his own grandmother deal with the emotional and mental challenges of aging pushed him down a path that led him to cofound the company in 2016 after studying neuroengineering at Duke University.

“What really fascinates me about humans is just how much our brain depends on social connection and how much we learn from others,” Rand said.

“A group of elderly residents who don’t really know each other that well can come together, spend 30 minutes in a VR experience together and then find themselves sitting down to have lunch together while continuing a conversation about the experience.”

It’s a large enough market that another VR specialist, Dallas-based Mynd Immersive, competes against Rendever with services tailored for senior living communities.

Besides helping create social connections, the VR programming from both Rendever and Mynd has been employed as a possible tool for potentially slowing down the deleterious effects of dementia. That’s how another Silicon Valley retirement village, The Forum, sometimes uses the technology.

Bob Rogallo, a Forum resident with dementia that has rendered him speechless, seemed to be enjoying taking a virtual hike through Glacier National Park in Montana as he nodded and smiled while celebrating his 83rd birthday with his wife of 61 years.

Sallie Rogallo, who doesn’t have dementia, said the experience brought back fond memories of the couple’s visits to the same park during the more than 30 years they spent cruising around the U.S. in their recreational vehicle.

“It made me wish I was 30 years younger so I could do it again,” she said of the virtual visit to Glacier.

In another session at The Forum, 93- year-old Almut Schultz laughed with delight while viewing a virtual classical music performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and later seemed to want to play with a puppy frolicking around in her VR headset.

“That was quite a session we had there,” Schultz said with a big grin after she took off her headset and returned to reality.

Margaret Foster contributed to this article.

© 2025 The Associated Press.