The Straits Times
Causes Week 2020: Virtual trishaw rides help elderly in Singapore fight isolation
Causes Week runs this year from Dec 20 to 25. It shines a light on various individuals and groups, and shows how they are making a difference through their chosen causes within the community.
Mr Abdul Rahim Abdullah holding the virtual reality headset at Jamiyah Nursing Home, on Dec 16, 2020.ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Therapy assistant Mark Kevin Bartolome holding the VR headset for Mr Abdul Rahim Abdullah at Jamiyah Nursing Home, on Dec 16, 2020.ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
PublishedDec 22, 2020, 5:00 am SGT
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Abdul Rahim Abdullah holding the virtual reality headset at Jamiyah Nursing Home..- ST
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): At the height of the pandemic, nursing homes became out of bounds to visitors and volunteers to protect their vulnerable elderly residents.
So Cycling Without Age Singapore, a charity which takes seniors from nursing homes and senior activity centres for trishaw rides, turned to technology to continue giving the elderly a chance to explore Singapore.
The charity worked with Mind Palace, a social enterprise that develops virtual reality (VR) technology for seniors, to develop a virtual reality trishaw ride.
Using a trishaw, they filmed some of the routes the charity used to take seniors on, like those in Admiralty Park, Bishan Park and Gardens by the Bay.