Related: physical space that welcomes the elderly. Loneliness/depression is a huge problem for older people. I think it would really boost wellbeing for these people to participate in something and to see other faces.
Agreed. Interestingly, it seems McDonalds ends up being the physical space that plays this role for a lot of older folks, both in urban areas (Koreans in Queens, NYC) and rural areas (Chris Arnade has done a lot of interesting documenting of this phenomenon).
From what I see, there are plenty of services for people who want to utilize them. Church is a popular one. So are community centers. And a plethora of social clubs. Or a cheap cafeteria. Getting elderly people out of their house and into social situations is the challenge. At some point, VR could have a real impact on this problem space.