It started with one grandfather.
My grandfather was once very active and adventurous.I slowly observed his strength diminish, and with his strength I was afraid he would also lose the adventurous spark in his eyes.
I started to take him on virtual adventures, and loved to see the happiness reemerge in his eyes.He passed away but I decided to continue my work.
Everyone deserves to see the world.
The first time I walked through a nursing home, I was not prepared for the silence.Not the peace of rest, the silence of people who had stopped expecting company.I found it intolerable.
Then I had to convince my peers.
Initially, the reactions were skeptical. There was fear, and a lack of understanding.
After working together for some time, each of them gained immense joy.
A headset cannot fix everything.
Individual experiences, however meaningful, cannot fix broken systems. That realization drove me from a headset toward research.
We also built an app for virtual tours of care communities. It reached beta testing.
Piotr Kierner
He founded Seniors on Mars in 2020 and studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Named to BostInno's 25 Under 25 in 2023.
