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Paper Abstract and Keywords
Presentation 2025-06-28 15:25
Measuring the quantitative effects of VR on Communication in older adults living alone
Takayuki Torigoe, Yosuke Yoshimura, Masako Morito, Ishin Okano, Mika Uchida (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare), Hisashi Miyazaki (Nippon Bunri Univ.), Isao Kayano (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare) MBE2025-4
Abstract (in Japanese) (See Japanese page) 
(in English) It is known that older adults living alone are at increased risk of frailty due to reduced daily conversation, leading to depression, dementia, and decline in physical function. In particular, for elderly individuals undergoing dialysis, the onset of dementia not only complicates treatment but also often results in institutionalization, posing a significant burden. Therefore, frailty prevention is an important issue even for clinical engineers involved in dialysis care. This study proposes a method to quantitatively evaluate the effects of VR-based communication on elderly individuals living alone and examines its validity. Using VRChat, we measured both speech volume and physical activity in a virtual environment. The VR space was created in Unity, and speech content was transcribed using ChatGPT to quantify speech volume by character count. Physical activity was analyzed using VisionPose, calculating energy expenditure in J/kg/s. Using this method, we measured speech and activity in two older adults in their 70s living alone during free conversation. The results showed for a 23-minute conversation, subject 1 spoke 6,121 characters and expended 7.82 J/kg/s, similarly subject 2 spoke 5,293 characters and expended 1.56 J/kg/s. These values are comparable to estimates based on conversation METs (1.5 METs ≈ 1.72 J/kg/s) and the average speech rate in elderly (4.5 syllables/sec ≈ 6,210 syllables in 23 minutes), indicating that our method is a valid approach for measuring speech volume and physical activity in the elderly.
Keyword (in Japanese) (See Japanese page) 
(in English) Older adults living alone / VR / Speech volume / Pysical activity / / / /  
Reference Info. IEICE Tech. Rep., vol. 125, no. 93, MBE2025-4, pp. 17-17, June 2025.
Paper # MBE2025-4 
Date of Issue 2025-06-21 (MBE) 
ISSN Online edition: ISSN 2432-6380
Copyright
and
reproduction		 All rights are reserved and no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Notwithstanding, instructors are permitted to photocopy isolated articles for noncommercial classroom use without fee. (License No.: 10GA0019/12GB0052/13GB0056/17GB0034/18GB0034)
Download PDF MBE2025-4

Conference Information
Committee MBE IEE-MBE  
Conference Date 2025-06-28 - 2025-06-28 
Place (in Japanese) (See Japanese page) 
Place (in English) Hokkaido University of Science 
Topics (in Japanese) (See Japanese page) 
Topics (in English) ME, etc. 
Paper Information
Registration To MBE 
Conference Code 2025-06-MBE-MBE 
Language Japanese 
Title (in Japanese) (See Japanese page) 
Sub Title (in Japanese) (See Japanese page) 
Title (in English) Measuring the quantitative effects of VR on Communication in older adults living alone 
Sub Title (in English)  
Keyword(1) Older adults living alone  
Keyword(2) VR  
Keyword(3) Speech volume  
Keyword(4) Pysical activity  
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1st Author's Name Takayuki Torigoe  
1st Author's Affiliation Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare)
2nd Author's Name Yosuke Yoshimura  
2nd Author's Affiliation Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare)
3rd Author's Name Masako Morito  
3rd Author's Affiliation Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare)
4th Author's Name Ishin Okano  
4th Author's Affiliation Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare)
5th Author's Name Mika Uchida  
5th Author's Affiliation Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare)
6th Author's Name Hisashi Miyazaki  
6th Author's Affiliation Nippon Bunri University (Nippon Bunri Univ.)
7th Author's Name Isao Kayano  
7th Author's Affiliation Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare (Kawasaki Univ. of Medical Welfare)
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Speaker Author-1 
Date Time 2025-06-28 15:25:00 
Presentation Time 25 minutes 
Registration for MBE 
Paper # MBE2025-4 
Volume (vol) vol.125 
Number (no) no.93 
Page p.17 
#Pages 1 
Date of Issue 2025-06-21 (MBE) 

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