While virual reality has been emraced by gamers battling monsters in mythical worlds, it is also proving useful for local residents diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Oculus Quest virtual reality headsets have been helping older people in a US aged care facility, helping them overcome cabin fever caused by COVID lockdowns.

"It's a headset they put on that goes around their head and over their eyes and it's like they are looking at a TV screen up close but it is interactive with them," said the executive director of The Verendah Retirement Community, Katrina Dunn.

What had begun as therapy for their Alzheimer's residents has since become a useful tool in helping them with their memory as well as encouraging them to be more active.

Wearing the goggles, users are taken to a simulated, three-dimensional world.

The residents have emraced the travel features of the headsets, and others are using them to overcome feelings of social isolation.

"They can walk around, turn around and do all these different things like they're actually there in the area," said Ms Dunn.

"This provides a memory exercise for them that requires more physical movement and they're able to explore and satisfy that inquisitive nature they have.

"They really are more elated afterward."

Residfents who 'virtually' return to sites they'd previously physically visited often encountered memory flashbacks.

"It's triggering memories, and it's triggering happy memories whether it's from childhood or a vacation they have done before with their families. For others, it's knocking something off their bucket list goals," she said.

And some residents are experiencing things they missed out on in earlier days.

"For those who like deep-sea diving, we love that it gives them that extra physical movement because they feel like they are really there diving," she said.

"But we have to be extra cautious that they don't trip on anything because they are actually going through the diving motions. They get so excited with it."

"We'll also just go outside on the porch for those who want to go on the safari and they're able to hear things outside that make them feel like they're there, as well. The possibilities are endless."

She said using the sets also helps the residents feel less like they are in quarantine because they are still able to go exploring.

"Another special thing about virtual reality is for those residents who are nonverbal, you can tell by their mood that they are still feeling that happy feeling. We can tell by their behaviors and their moods that this is doing what we had hoped it would do," she said.

"It's limitless in what it can do and it's opening up a whole new world for them.

"We're seeing a light bulb go off for them and it's wonderful to see."

Would you try virtual reality as a way to escape lockdown fever?