While virtual reality has become popular as a source of entertainment for seniors in care facilities, senior living leaders are now also turning more to VR and digital touring as a way for prospective residents to preview their campuses.
One of the latest to deploy this technology is SALMON Health and Retirement. SALMON has partnered with virtual real estate platform Infinityy to showcase two of its facilities in Medway, MA, the company announced.
“Infinityy’s platform supports our forward-thinking approach to senior living while upholding our longstanding tradition of providing value-based care and meeting the individual needs of our current and future residents wherever they are,” SALMON chief future officer Andrew Salmon said in a statement.
The tool is free to use and takes users around the various spaces within Medway facilities: The Willows Independent Living and Whitney Place Assisted Living with Tapestry Memory Care. PC users can get a full 360-degree view of rooms or “walk” through spaces in a manner similar to a first-person video game.
While the tour is ostensibly for potential residents to explore the space — Infinityy bills itself as a way to convert “anonymous visitors” into “high qualified prospects, then residents” in a short time frame — the platform also could be useful for families of current residents.
SALMON isn’t the first senior living operator to offer virtual tours, but it is the first senior living community to utilize Infinityy, a spokesman for the company stated.
Infinityy’s platform involves moving through photorealistic spaces laterally, moving through the space as someone would in the “real” world, beginning with the lobby. Another senior living facility that offers virtual, interactive tours, Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, FL, begins with an aerial view of the campus.
Senior living facilities could look into giving 3D tours using VR headsets, the creators of Thrive Pavilion, a metaverse community for seniors, suggested to McKnight’s.
