October 1, 2020 – Rendever, a provider of virtual reality (VR) experiences for seniors, has recently announced that it is bringing its EnvisionHome platform to senior living communities and hospice providers across the US, allowing sales teams, marketers and admissions staff at senior care communities to run VR-based tours with families during the coronavirus pandemic.
With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, families have been restricted from entering and touring senior living communities and hospice care centers in person – a critical aspect of feeling confident and comfortable when deciding where a loved one will live or receive care. EnvisionHome allows organizations to lead personalized tours that give families a better understanding of how a space looks and feels by providing an immersive 360° experience.
Staff are equipped with a touchscreen tablet and a set of VR headsets – all of which are networked together so the staff member is in full control of the tour. Rendever’s platform also allows staff to see where family members or patients are looking in real time in order to tailor discussions toward features they find most interesting, according to the company.
“When a hospice patient has uncontrolled pain and symptoms, they can often benefit from a stay in one of our care centers. But without knowing what the environment looks like or feels like, it can be a difficult decision for loved ones. Coronavirus has added a layer of complexity and stress because families are not currently able to visit these centers themselves,” said Empath Health CEO Rafael Sciullo.
He continued, “To proactively combat this, we’ve adopted the EnvisionHome platform and are already hearing feedback that the personalized, immersive tour experience provides increased confidence and credibility. Trust and comfort are so important in choosing hospice care, so there’s no question that this technology is a smart investment for our team.”
In addition to offering virtual tours via the EnvisionHome platform, care facilities also have the option to switch the headsets over to Rendever’s resident engagement platform for free, allowing seniors already living in care to use the Rendever VR system to explore different parts of the world, check off bucket list items, revisit childhood homes, connect with family members, and more.
“Not only have family members been forced to keep their distance during this time, but residents also have limited interaction with each other to prevent spread [of COVID-19] within the communities themselves. As we think about the future of this pandemic, we need to change the conversation from ‘social distancing’ to ‘physical distancing.’ From initial tours to daily activities, we’ve created a VR platform that provides an immersive human-to-human connection… even when in-person interaction isn’t an option,” said Kyle Rand, Cofounder and CEO of Rendever. “To help with this end-to-end process, a community that has used EnvisionHome to the point of building strong occupancy and no longer needs to provide virtual tours can then seamlessly pass the headsets from the sales directors to the community staff to boost resident morale and empower staff to focus on building a truly thriving community.”
In addition to EnvisionHome, Rendever also released ‘The Connection Corner’ in July, which allows residents to come together virtually and enjoy their usual social circles by being present in a virtual community space, with personalized avatars “sitting” next to each other on comfortable chairs and couches. Rendever has also enabled social VR in senior living communities through additional features like two-way voice communication and live, expert-run sessions.
For more information about EnvisionHome, please visit Rendever’s website.
Image credit: Rendever
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.