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. 2021 Jun 28:13:607219.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.607219. eCollection 2021.

The Feasibility of Using Virtual Reality and Eye Tracking in Research With Older Adults With and Without Alzheimer's Disease

Rebecca Davis  1
Affiliations
Free PMC article

The Feasibility of Using Virtual Reality and Eye Tracking in Research With Older Adults With and Without Alzheimer's Disease

Rebecca Davis. Front Aging Neurosci. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Aim: To examine the feasibility of using large scale spatial, self-mobile, virtual reality, and eye tracking in older adults with and without Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Older adults with early stage AD (n = 38) and a control group without AD (n = 50) were asked to find their way in a large, projected VR simulation of a retirement community repeatedly over 10 trials for each of 2 days, while wearing eye tracking glasses. Feasibility measures, including tolerance, side effects, and ability to complete the VR and eye tracking were collected. This study reports the analysis of the feasibility data for the VR and eye tracking and comparison of findings between the groups. Results: Over 80% of the subjects were able to complete the VR portion of the study. Only four subjects, all in the AD group, could not use the joystick and were excluded. Withdrawal rate (18%) was similar between the groups [X 2 (2) = 2.82, N = 88, p = 0.245] with most withdrawals occurring after the fourth trial. Simulation sickness was not significantly different between the groups. Only 60% of the subjects had completed eye tracking videos; more subjects in the AD group had complete eye tracking videos than the control group; X 2 (1) = 7.411, N = 88, p = 0.006. Eye tracking incompletion was primarily due to inability to calibration issues. Conclusion: Virtual reality testing and eye tracking can be used in older adults with and without AD in a large-scale way-finding task, but that there are some limitations.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; aging; eye tracking; feasibility; spatial cognition; virtual navigation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Projected virtual reality spatial navigation test with eye tracking.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Feasibility measures: virtual reality. *p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Feasibility measures: eye tracking. **p < 0.01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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