Virtual reality headsets given to terminally ill patients so they can enter computer simulations during their final days – The Sun

Patients are given the chance to experience the world through virtual reality...just like an episode of hit TV series Black Mirror

DYING patientshave been handed virtual reality headsets so they can simulate being outdoorsin their final days.

A hospice is giving the terminally ill a chance to experience the world through a lens just like an episode of hit TV series Black Mirror.

After placing the headset on they feel as if they are strolling along abeach or through woods.

Its hoped it will offer those stuck in hospices the chanceto see places they have nice memories of.

It comes as a top Virtual Reality CEO warned thatthe technology will one day be so detailedthat humans willchoose to live in computer simulations.

Just like Charlie Brooker's Netflix hit, where patients also slip into a virtual reality world, patients at LOROS Hospice, Leicester, have been trying out the new technology.

John Lee has Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and was the first one to test out the futuristic headset at LOROS.

The-70-year-old said it was "just like" walking through a park in Leicester he used to visit, as he had a 360 degree view.

He added: "You soon relax, it's just like you're there, I loved it. I nearly waved at somebody, as they walked past. It's almost as good as the real thing.

"Since being diagnosed with MND, we can get out but I can't spend a lot of time out of the wheelchair, so being able to have these experiences through the glasses is really good."

John Knight, chief executive of LOROSsaid: "Research suggests that the brain accepts the virtual world within 20 seconds after which the experience becomes all absorbing.

"We recognise that some of our patients are often restricted to where they can go due to their illness, so we wanted to help give them the opportunity to still enjoy life wider than their restrictions allow, through virtual reality.

"To see the response from one of our patients, including John, was quite overwhelming. You could really see how much it meant to him to be able to experience walking through Bradgate Park, something he never thought he would be able to ever experience again after being diagnosed."

It is planning to commission a number of further films, such as walking on a beach, to create a library of valuable experiences for patients at other hospices to access and enjoy.

The virtual reality project was funded by the TS Shipman Trust, and LOROS want to make films for lots of other hospices and care homes.

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Virtual reality headsets given to terminally ill patients so they can enter computer simulations during their final days - The Sun