According to an article from CNN Travel, therapist Kenta Toshima and University of Tokyo professor Atsushi Hiyama are capturing 360 virtual reality (VR) videos of locations around the world – from the canals of Venice to the Golden Gate Bridge – in order to help rekindle joy and motivation for Japanese senior citizens in nursing care facilities.

“They wanted to see even more of the places from their memories, therefore I felt that I could show them more by using virtual reality and showing them [these places] in 360,” Toshima told CNN Travel. “With VR, they can look around however they’d like to and experience the footage actively.”

The University of Tokyo course also teaches senior citizens about VR technology and how to shoot their own 360 videos, with students ranging from 53 to 90 years old. 82-year-old Takeshi Maki, an active member of the course, used the knowledge he learned and traveled to Hawaii with his 360 camera.

“I have [friends who cannot travel], because I am over 80 years old,” Maki explains. “When I showed [the footage] to my friends, they were so surprised. You know most of the senior people cannot move or travel, right? This camera can help them.”

Hiyama and Toshima said that their VR travel project is working in conjunction with physical rehabilitation centers in nursing care facilities. They hope that by sending elderly patients on VR vacations, those patients can heal both their body and mind.

“Those who have lived to 80-90 years, there aren’t so many things they haven’t personally experienced,” Toshima said. “When they see the VR, [it] takes them to a different place right before their eyes. I saw people stand up who don’t normally stand up, who then start walking. It was so shocking.”

By leveraging the unique perspectives that VR offers, healthcare providers can use comprehensive care solutions to better their patients’ lives, and also improve their own skills as practitioners. In fact, surgeons and medical students are already using platforms such as Osso VR to train collaboratively on procedures, and the University of Alabama Birmingham’s hospital is teaching specialized surgical techniques to the next generation of physicians.

“Even if our physical and mental conditions decline because of aging,” said Hiyama, “We can still experience and participate in society by using VR technology.”