Yesterday was Grandmothers' Day, and mine inspired me a lot on that one! Let me explain to you how I came to launch Lumeen to improve the well-being of seniors through virtual reality.

Before launching Lumeen, I worked in the United States at Sketchfab, a leading French startup in 3D and virtual reality. It was there that I was able to learn a lot about the subject. For 4 years, I accompanied Alban, the CEO, to the 4 corners of the USA to participate in all conferences related to new immersive media and to meet the major players in this sector in full revolution.

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And like a grandson who loves his grandmother, when I returned to France, I never failed to visit him in his nursing home. It's not always fun to age, and every time I went back to see her, I told myself that virtual reality had the power to improve the well-being of elderly people, to stimulate them and to take them out of their daily lives.

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Naturally, I decided to test this concept with my grandmother and the residents of her nursing home. To help me, I spontaneously turned to Robin, my younger brother, who is a nurse and who worked for several years in a nursing home. Together, we quickly realized two things:

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• There is great potential: virtual reality offers an almost instant sense of escape and well-being to elderly people. The caregivers also brought to us many therapeutic benefits that we had not imagined. In addition, by doing research we realized that therapeutic virtual reality had been proven in numerous clinical trials.

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• There is a strong technological barrier: virtual reality headsets were not designed for elderly people, and even less so in the context of collective workshops with several beneficiaries.

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With such interesting feedback, we couldn't stop there and I invited Robin to join us. As a caregiver, he immediately adhered to the mission of improving the well-being of the elderly. Brothers, now teammates launched into the crazy project of bringing virtual reality to nursing homes.

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A relevant and adapted solution

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Frédéric, our third partner, joined us a few months later to help us develop a technical solution adapted to use with elderly people. Older people are curious about technology but fear failure. They are afraid of not understanding how it works, of being overwhelmed. They are supported by competent health personnel, but who are not always comfortable with new technologies. We have therefore developed a simple tool, intended for caregivers, which simplifies the supervision of one or more elderly people.

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Our tablet application makes using virtual reality headsets crystal clear for staff and residents. From a tablet, an animator can easily select an immersive experience and broadcast it on several headsets simultaneously. Residents don't have to do any complicated manipulations. Staff and residents take ownership of our technology in just a few minutes.

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A rich and evolving library

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Our experiences are designed for seniors. We offer a large library of immersive videos on the themes of travel, nature and culture. With Lumeen, you can be transported in front of a turquoise sea or to the top of a snowy mountain; swim with dolphins or come face to face with a Canadian elk; marvel at the aurora borealis in Alaska or discover Thailand and its customs or discover Thailand and its customs; visit a cattle farm or a large Parisian museum. We want to cover everyone's desires for discovery and nostalgia. To do this, we work with creators around the world to always offer new experiences. All our experiences are accompanied by soft and relaxing music.

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A human and shared experience

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Maintaining social ties is essential to fight against the loss of autonomy. Our immersions are fascinating and can be experienced by several people. In this way, participants can discuss this shared experience.

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During the immersion, participants move their heads in all directions, point fingers, and interact. It may seem trivial, but for elderly people it is a real stimulus!

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To amplify these benefits, we integrate mediation content into our tablet application, which allows caregivers and facilitators to stimulate exchanges and social ties before, during and after sessions. In the form of quizzes and narration, this content makes it possible to make the experience user-friendly, to make memory work and to share feelings. The videos last between 7 and 12 minutes and are integrated into workshops of approximately 45 minutes.

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Strong development potential

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In addition to being a real societal issue, the aging of the population represents a huge market. If we focus on France, Germany and Italy, there are more than 35,000 retirement homes; and with an expected increase of 94% of those over 80 by 2040, we estimate a need of 75% more beds by then. And I'm not talking about autonomous residences, day care centers, SSIAD, SSR, USLD and other specialized structures. In addition, France is a champion of aging well: the 4 leading European groups are French.

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Virtual reality technology is going to evolve a lot in the coming years. Lumeen is a project for the future. We have lots of ideas for 2019 and we are going to launch an R&D program with a professor of medicine in neurology and geriatrics.

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I am happy to be living this adventure with two co-founders whom I know well and in whom I have full confidence. We have joined the prestigious Founders Program at Station F and are preparing to launch our commercialization. Our mission to improve the well-being of seniors has only just begun. You are not at the end of your surprises! To support us in our progress, follow us on facebook, Linkedin and twitter .

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See you soon,
Corentin