Embracing Virtual Reality: Understanding Factors Influencing Older Adults' Acceptance

The growing concern over the aging population has heightened the focus on elderly mental health and well-being, positioning Virtual Reality (VR) technology as a potential remedy; this underscores the importance of understanding older adults' perspectives and attitudes towards VR. In this study, 29 participants over 60 years old from Beijing were recruited and their attitudes towards, as well as willingness to use, VR were analyzed through semi-structured interviews based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2). The study found that factors such as performance expectancy (PE), hedonic motivation (HM), physiological sensations (PS), and patriotic feeling (PF) were widely mentioned among the elderly group, while factors such as effort expectancy (EE), facilitating conditions (FC), and social influence (SI) were relatively less mentioned. The study provides new insights into the understated role of EE in older adults' VR technology acceptance, the significant impact of socio-cultural factors, and the critical need to address the digital divide and specific challenges the elderly face with VR technology. Practically, it identifies essential factors influencing VR acceptance among the elderly, offering guidelines for user-friendly, culturally adaptive, and inclusive design.