Reimagining Dementia with XR and Digital Therapeutics

Extended reality is starting to find a real place in dementia research and care. In this episode, host Dr Byron Creese is joined by David de Jong-Bambagioni, Dr Emilie Brotherhood, and Alice Rowe to explore how virtual, augmented, and mixed reality tools are being used in practice.Together, they discuss how XR is helping to standardise cognitive assessments, simulate clinical environments, and support earlier and more accurate diagnosis. The conversation also looks at how immersive tools are being used to build empathy, giving clinicians and carers a better sense of what it might feel like to live with dementia.The panel share examples from their own work, including virtual simulations to distinguish delirium from dementia, and digital environments designed to capture subtle behavioural changes in conditions like frontotemporal dementia. These approaches are opening up new ways to study cognition, behaviour, and patient experience in more realistic and scalable settings.This episode offers a practical look at where XR is already making a difference, and where it might go next.In this episode:How XR is being used in dementia research and careUsing immersive environments for assessment and empathyWhy co design and lived experience matterVirtual, augmented, and mixed reality explained simplyEthical risks and safeguards in vulnerable groupsHow researchers are moving into digital healthGetting started with XR and finding collaboratorsInclusion, global perspectives, and reducing bias--A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk.If you prefer to watch rather than listen, you will find a video version of this podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on our website.Leave us a tip:https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/supportFollow us on social media:https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.socialDownload and Register with our Community App:https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcherWe gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.The views and opinions expressed by guests in this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the producers, funders, or sponsors.Subscribe to our sister show 'Dementia Researcher The Blogs':https://podfollow.com/dementia-researcher-blogs