Assessing virtual reality environments as cognitive stimulation method for patients with MCI

Abstract

Advances in technology in the last decade have created a diverse field of applications for the care of persons with cognitive impairment. This chapter is an attempt to introduce a virtual reality computer-based intervention, which can used for cognitive stimulating and disease progression evaluation of a wide range of cognitive disorders ranging from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease and various dementias. Virtual reality (VR) environments have already been successfully used in cognitive rehabilitation and show increased potential for use in neuropsychological evaluation allowing for greater ecological validity while being more engaging and user friendly. Nevertheless a holistic approach has been attempted, in order to view the research themes and applications that currently exist around the "intelligent systems" healthcare given to the cognitively impaired persons, and thus looking at research directions, systems, technological frameworks and perhaps trends. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.