Cleveland Clinic VR supermarket shopping simulator measures declines in cognitive and motor abilities

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, led by M.M. Lewis, have prototyped a virtual reality supermarket shopping simulator to better test the cognitive-motor ability of people especially the elderly.

Doctors often use Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) tests to measure how well the elderly are performing on basic, daily tasks that are critical to staying independent. The main drawback of these tests is that they do not adequately measure how well a person is doing in real life when using both mind and body to complete tasks like grocery shopping.

The VR shopping simulator combines motor and mental tasks by forcing participants to look for food items on a grocery list. Users walk around on a VR treadmill while they view the simulation on a VR headset. This eliminates the need to buy and stock an entire building with food, and the simulation can be quickly reset to the same starting state.

The simulator was designed to begin with the simple task of buying 5 items on a list. More complex tasks were tested such as remembering words spoken over the announcement speaker and choosing between the best priced food options.

The study found differences in cognitive-motor performance between 10 young participants and 10 elderly participants. The older participants stopped more often, checked their lists more frequently, moved more slowly, and took longer to pick the best-priced choice.

The VR simulator is currently being used in larger studies to gauge the ability of such a platform to be integrated into yearly doctor visits to catch impending dementia and early decline. In the meantime, why not try to keep your mind sharp by learning a new musical instrument (like this at Amazon).