3D Community Aware Virtual Spaces as Smart Living Environments for Physical Activity and Rehabilitation

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Multiuser immersive experiences can provide an opportunity to leverage health results and quality of life in smart ageing care environments.Virtual Reality (VR) current approaches for the Silver Economy follow a common pattern:the gamified experience.VR2Care breaks the current VR paradigm in smart living environments by enabling a multi-user mixed reality service, available for embodied exercising group in different physical locations at the same time and with expert exercise supervision.Motivation is empowered in VR2Care by a social commitment. A social experience of several people sharing difficulties and fighting isolation, replaces the “the patient/user and the application” paradigm, and the gamified entertainment experiences. VR2Care goes beyond the common requirements as it is codesigned with active participation of older adults, caregivers, therapists, community and clinicians to provide a full immersive multiuser experience.VR2Care will leverage the technology by running four demonstrators that support the project pilots in three locations across the EU:Portugal,Netherlands and Italy.Demonstrators explore the multiuser capabilities of the environment in a distance psychomotricity training with large movements; multimodal natural interaction, with real time AI supported guidance for a one-to-one physical rehabilitation experience; an hybrid approach with a local group of older adults and a distance individuals performing physical activities; and a clinical approach for the promotion of exercise as a therapy after rehabilitation.From a business perspective,VR2Care opens up a global market to deliver services and products to customers, where distances between provider and customer disappear.Business opportunities go beyond the technological and technical companies, expanding challenges for the AAL ecosystem including companies such as broadcasters, architects, therapists, training and education institutions to deliver at any place trainings, advices and design.