Let’s make exercise fun again, for everybody 

There is plenty of scientific evidence that exercise is vital for our health, especially for seniors, people suffering from chronic conditions and people with physical disabilities. A sedentary lifestyle is proven to be as unhealthy as smoking, and inactivity is considered the forth leading risk factor for death according to the WHO. Yet many people with health challenges are not able to simply walk along the beach or ride a bicycle, especially in cases they are bound to stay in a health institute or elderly residence.

And whilst it is the not-so-fit who would benefit most from exercise, it is this exactly this group that often is not motivated to do so. People in care or rehab institutes but also people struggling with chronic or physical challenges have a lot to win with regular exercise. That is where HumanXR comes in: we make physical and cognitive exercise fun again for those who need it most.

So nice to see those people cheering along the way!

The rowing was brilliant. And nice that you can look all around!

Felt like I could cycle again like years ago!

The use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), together referred to as eXtended Reality (XR), is gaining ground fast. We believe we are witnessing the birth of an entire new spectrum of exercise options. And while we don’t dare to claim that our VR experiences are a medical treatment for your clients, we believe they boost the motivation to do regular exercise – especially for people with limited mobility that cannot simply enjoy a walk in the park.

Support healthy aging
HumanXR makes smart VR solutions that help professionals to promote exercise in their care institutes. Regular exercise helps to improve physical and mental functions to keep older people fit. Evidence shows that regular physical activity is safe for frail older people and the risks of developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, obesity, falls, cognitive impairments, osteoporosis and muscular weakness are decreased by regularly exercise. It even helps to decrease arthritis pain and can improve sleep.

Yet many older people are simply not motivated to do classic exercises and struggle with limited mobility. And that is where we help!

Support managing of chronic conditions
For people with chronic conditions, regular exercise can help manage symptoms and improve health. Health experts claim that exercise is one of the top things that can be done to lower risk of developing chronic problems in the first place. But it’s also important to know that exercise can play a role in managing symptoms.

HumanXR support professionals to adopt an innovative exercise platform, which helps to promote physical activity amongst people suffering chronic conditions. Why? Because physical activity and exercise are considered principal interventions for prevention of chronic diseases, according to the WHO: asthma, COPD, fibromyalgia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, chronic pain, cancer and even dementia can improve with exercise.

Support people with disabilities
One billion people experience some form of disability. These are people with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs; hearing; seeing; or concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. This often results in limited mobility, and making a simple walk in the park is not feasible in many cases. Physical activity can help reduce the impact of these disabilities, yet nearly half of all adults with disabilities get no leisure time physical activity.

This is where HumanXR can help. We aim to provide people with disabilities a sense of freedom and stimulate them to do some form of physical activity in our virtual worlds, depending on the type and severity of disability.

Support rehabilitation
Although HumanXR does not offer a medical therapy for rehabilitation, it does offer an engaging way for active sitting and promotion of exercise, which can contribute to the rehabilitation process. Also, various functional executive functions can be practiced in these virtual worlds. Next to cycling with the legs, it allows people to practise hand, arm and shoulder movements, as well as movements from the neck and upper body – for example by rowing a virtual boat! And there is quite some evidence that exercise after stroke can improve cardiovascular fitness, walking ability, and upper arm strength. In addition, exercise may improve depressive symptoms, cognitive function, memory, and quality of life.
HumanXR solutions are designed for physical and cognitive training, and there is strong scientific evidence that virtual reality also contributes to pain distraction, simply by the powerful effect of immersion. Similar evidence is found for mental relaxation: scientists found that virtual reality can bring relaxation, happiness and a reduction in sadness among participants exposed to a virtual walk in nature!
Keeping it simple

New Horizons offers software and hardware in one integrated package. We supply the New Horizons software installed on a very powerful, compact and silent computer, including Oculus Rift S headset and sensors. We will do remote maintenance and updates for you using the internet. However, we do not ask any personal data and do not store any of your customers’ health data, nor do we transfer local data to a cloud or server. So no hassle with GDPR.