Events and Media

25 July 2022 – Today (Channel 9)

Aged care residents travel the world with state-of-the-art virtual reality.

1 July 2022 – ABC News Breakfast

Article in Australian Hospital and Healthcare Bulletin: VR tool to improve quality of life.

2 June 2022 – ABC News Breakfast

02 June 2022 – ABC News

Virtual reality is helping residents with COVID isolation in aged care centres across Queensland

25 May 2022 – The Big Reach

As part of The Big Anxiety’s Big Reach events at QUT in May 2022, we were delighted to host the world premiere of Transcendence – a play which documents what happens when aged care residents, their family and staff experiment with VR. Part of a larger Facebook-funded project, developing a toolkit to encourage and support aged care staff to implement VR, Transcendence is three monologues, each exploring a key theme from the perspective of a primary stakeholder.

Our play kicked off WHAT I KNOW NOW THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD – a program focused on ageing, at QUT Gardens Point on Wed 25 May, 2-5pm. As part of this, in addition to the play and artist’s talk (described below), we also presented The Visit, an interactive VR experience facilitated by Dr Gail Kenning and the fEEL (felt Experience and Empathy Lab) team, and an opportunity for the audience to use their own story to create a storyboard that looked back on their experiences and looked forward to explore their hopes and fears, facilitated by Professor Evonne Miller and Dr Sarah Johnstone.

Transcendence – by playwright and QUT PhD student Caleb Lewis. Play 3 was performed by Zachary Burton, and followed by an artist’s talk with playwright Caleb Lewis and his PhD supervisor, Dr Shane Pike

Frankie feels like a butterfly trapped in a box.  All her life she used to fly, then came the Parkinsons which grounded her for good.  But tonight, she’s headed for the stars.

Aleea misses her baba.  Sharif is still here, only his mind tends to wander, mostly back to life in Aleppo.  If only there was a way to meet him there.

Allegra is dying.  Young carer, Eddie, knows it, but what can he do? Yet when Eddie learns of Allegra’s greatest regret, perhaps he’ll be able to help realise one final wish before his friend goes.

PLAY 1: LIFE ON MARS

Frankie is exiled to aged care due to a failing body, though her mind is still sharp. In this story, Frankie attends the Ekka where she first sees the “Rocket Ride,” inspiring a lifelong love of flight. Stongly independent, she feels trapped in aged care, surrounded by people with whom has little in common. The use of the VR headset will allow her to fulfill a lifelong dream of space travel, and to experience for herself, life on Mars.

PLAY 2. ALEPPO

Aleea tells the story of her father, Sharif, a former merchant at the Aleppo souk in Syria. Like the souk itself, which now lies in ruins, Sharif’s memories are crumbling. Aleea, desperate to forge some connection between her daughter, Zahra, and Sharif, arranges for the three to visit the souk using VR, triggering a moment of recognition and reconnection.

PLAY 3. DOLPHIN SONG

A young carer, Eddie, tells of his experience in palliative care, helping the dying Allegra, a woman in aged care, realise her dream to swim with dolphins. When a storm threatens the planned swim and the boat refuses to take them out, all seems lost, then Eddie arranges for Allegra to visit a local pool and with VR goggles, immersing Allegra in the experience of a lifetime. Allegra’s swim is inspired by a company in Holland, the Dolphin Swim Club, who developed VR dolphin swims for pain management and palliative care.

 

24 May 2022 – QUT News

QUT – VR a tool to give better quality of life in aged care