Marcus conducted an investigation to see whether gamified cognitive training delivered via a virtual reality (VR) headset was more effective at improving working memory than traditional paper-based brain-training puzzles. Participants were recruited from local retirement communities.

The participants were allocated to one of two groups:

• Condition A: participants completed gamified cognitive training daily using a VR headset.
• Condition B: participants completed traditional paper-based brain-training puzzles daily.

Every participant completed six weeks of their assigned training, after which Marcus measured their working memory capacity by recording their score on a standardized digit span test.