CHSLD residents travel with virtual reality headsets

These helmets have been available for months at certain CHSLDs like Saint-Apollinaire, much to the delight of the public.

The landscape is very beautiful. It’s flowers and all. The rest, here, it’s not like a flower!Initiates a helmeted resident. I liked it, but I was scaredOne woman agreed with a smile, as she traded the winter to immerse herself in the summer again.

And it’s not just the beneficiaries who are surprised by these pictures, the residents are sometimes a bit confused. Louis-Frédéric Lessard is a living environment consultant for CISSS Chaudière-Appalaches, who was surprised by the results.

” Immobile people try to raise their feet without touching the water or reach out to touch a flower, a blade of grass. »

I’ve seen residents respond well to it! So coming out of the shell a little bit, starting to move again, trying to talk, naming things, touching, so that’s really beautiful for our residents.Mr. Lessard adds, is convinced by the benefits of this technology.

Quebec expertise

The helmet, which costs about $1,000, is connected to an application developed by a Quebec company, Super Sublime, that captures places in very high resolution and in 360 degrees.

It allows for complete immersion in nature.

We say the virtual reality headset is a “baby,” but basically, it’s a baby that allows youngsters to escape into an incredibly imaginative environment, according to Jean-Francois Malouin, director general of Super Sublime. Imagine what this can do to people stuck between four walls all day.

Currently, the application offers a type of escape. Other international destinations will be uploaded, but for now seniors are discovering the landscapes of Quebec.

Ultimately, the project will make it possible to install two helmets at all 29 shelters in Chaudière-Appalaches.

With information from Philippe L’Heureux