Nina Shi

-Unity

-School project

-Personal project

Lonely Elderly

Virtual Reality
Unity
Interaction
Empathy

In our fast-paced digital age, older adults often find themselves struggling with loneliness, a byproduct of the technological advances that connect us. "Lonely Elders" is a virtual reality program that demonstrates the power of the right use of technology to bridge the generational gap and reveal loneliness among older adults.

This shift in the aging population, while a sign of advances in healthcare and longevity, has inadvertently led to a crisis of silent loneliness for many seniors. This has been exacerbated by urbanization, family fragmentation, and the digital divide, leaving more than 40% of older adults vulnerable to loneliness, with serious implications for their health and well-being.

The Lonely Elder was inspired by the real-life silent struggles of older adults in my community. It utilizes VR technology not as a barrier, but as a bridge to empathy and understanding. The program immerses users in the daily lives of seniors living alone, turning every object in their rooms into a story portal. These stories of love, loss, joy, and regret provide a window into the lives of older adults, prompting users to feel, understand, and reflect on aging and the universal need for connection.

The Lonely Elder aims to foster empathy and awareness, particularly in younger generations, and to encourage us to think more deeply about our relationships with older people and our collective social responsibility. Development involved extensive research and collaboration to strike a balance between conveying educational content and having a profound emotional impact.

The Lonely Elder demonstrates the potential of VR as a tool for social empathy, aiming to combat loneliness among older people by fostering intergenerational understanding and connection.

StoryBoard：