August 10, 2026
20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPOTLIGHT
Based at York University and UHN’s OpenLab, the PrescribingVR Lab is transforming VR from an emerging best practice into an evidence-based standard of care.
The PrescribingVR Lab began 15 years ago with a practical question. While working in a hospital during her PhD, Dr. Appel wondered whether seeing bland hospital food through virtual reality (VR) as a favourite dish could make meals more appealing. At the time, healthcare VR was largely experimental.
Today, immersive VR can transport someone from a hospital room to a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, a live concert, or a tropical beach—or even visit their childhood homes. Research shows these experiences can improve quality of life, reduce distress, and create meaningful engagement when illness, disability, or care environments limit everyday possibilities.
Integration requires adapting technology not designed for healthcare to meet complex workflows, while addressing unfamiliarity, safety, and accessibility. Through pragmatic clinical trials, implementation research, and human-centered co-design with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and community partners, the lab addresses these challenges. Its work spans dementia, neurological disorders, arthritis, vision loss, intellectual disabilities, phantom limb pain, and dental anxiety across hospital, home, long-term care, rehabilitation, and community settings.
The lab led the largest randomized controlled trial of immersive 360° VR for people living with dementia in acute care. Its current CIHR-funded VR&R study evaluates whether home-based VR can provide flexible caregiver respite while supporting meaningful engagement for people living with dementia. This research has informed caregiVR, a commercial platform and YSpace start-up company that translates evidence into programs for routine care, now used in homes across Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
The PrescribingVR Lab is committed to developing the next generation of digital health leaders by providing trainees from undergraduate through doctoral studies with hands-on research experience, mentorship, internships, and opportunities to publish and present at national and international conferences.
The challenge is no longer whether VR can improve health and well-being, but how to integrate it into care. The lab’s goal is to move promising VR experiences beyond research studies into an accessible, equitable, and sustainable part of everyday care.