Tandem VR™ is a virtual reality concept centered on sharing experiences with others. Tandem VR™ is focused on two things. One, VR experiences are "in tandem," meaning that two or more people’s experiences are synchronized (simultaneous) so they can fully enjoy them together. Two, the VR experiences are personalized to their preferences based on their experiences, dreams, or memories.

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Dr. Olivia McAnirlin developed Tandem VR™ during her dissertation research in 2020 while earning a PhD in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management from Clemson University. Olivia was drawn to helping people who could not safely access their loved nature places and visit them again with their loved ones. Olivia began this research focused on regifting nature and recreation experiences in VR for people living with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and their caregivers and families.

The name “Tandem VR™” is inspired by a true story of love and memories. Olivia’s great-grandparents had a farm in rural Corinth, Maine, and were very busy in their community, raising children, and farming. One of their shared joys was riding their tandem bicycle, which they would do for town parades and lovingly called “the bicycle built for two.”

The act of riding a tandem bicycle is an act of love and friendship. Whether it’s your first time or 100th, riders must be synchronized and living in the moment together, ready to bike as one. Tandem bicycles can transport us to favorite shared picnic spots by the river, scenic overlooks to watch sunrises, or places we’ve always wanted to visit. Whatever our adventure, a tandem bicycle allows a life in sync with our loved ones.

Tandem VR™ is named for the nostalgia of Olivia’s great-grandparents sharing memories and new experiences, side by side, one pedal at a time.

Are you interested in considering whether you, a family member, or a friend might enjoy a personalized VR experience? Below you will find information on what to expect from the process of engaging with Olivia and her team when developing and then sharing this experience with your family.

  • The timeline for creating a personalized VR experience can vary. We have an existing library of 360° videos from around the world that is growing every year, and if we can use existing VR experiences or videos we make, we can turn them into a personalized experience.

    If we already have a VR experience that matches your family’s vision, and our team is available to ship or deliver the headset (s) immediately, you could experience Tandem VR™ within 3 business days of your inquiry via overnight shipping. Some of these immediately available experiences include:

    • South Carolina treasures, including beaches, mountains, forests, and Death Valley (home of the Clemson Tigers)

    • Beautiful parks, including Yellowstone National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Maine Botanical Gardens, South Carolina Botanical Gardens, midwestern forests and prairies, and southeastern caves

    • Virtual nature therapy, from the forests of New York to beaches of California

    • International destinations, including the Caribbean, Antarctica and Italy

    If we have 360° videos but reorder, edit, and personalize them, this process generally takes 1-2 weeks, plus another week for shipping, for a total of 3-4 weeks (once again, pending our team’s availability for editing and shipping or delivering the headsets). Some of these recorded but not yet edited experiences include:

    • Additional U.S. locations, including select sites from the Black Hills, Blue Ridge Parkway, Door County, Foothills Trail, Mt. Rushmore, Maine, Muir Woods, and Point Reyes

    • International destinations, including Australia, Brazil, Belize, Canada, Crete, Galapagos, New Zealand, Norway, the North Pole, Tasmania and Switzerland

    If we do not have all or some of the 360° video clips needed to make your experience, we have two options to offer. The first involves mailing your family a 360° camera and asking you to capture stationary (i.e., on a tripod) footage from the locations that you want in your personalized experience, then mailing the camera back. Once we receive the camera, the storyboarding and editing process typically takes 2-4 weeks or longer, depending on the complexity of the story and the number of locations. The total time, therefore, is contingent on your family’s availability to travel and capture the 360° videos yourselves. Assuming you take 2 weeks and there are another 2 weeks of shipping, the entire process would take 2-3 months. 

    We are also happy and enjoy our team traveling to places to capture high-quality 360° videos for your family. If this is the case, the restriction will be based on our availability, the season/s and event/s you wish to capture at the locations, and environmental conditions (i.e., weather).

  • Our team uses Clemson University-approved billing rates for the Virtual Reality & Nature Lab that are at or below market rates, in service of our land-grant mission. In general, projects that do not involve editing can be done at little or no cost, while those that involve only editing are $1,000 to $2,000. Projects that involve travel are generally $3,000 or more.

    We don't charge for the video content itself. This is a deliberate choice, given how high market rates for 360° content typically run. Instead, every cost tied to Tandem VR™ covers only the time it takes us to edit or record new videos (if needed), deliver the hardware, and provided the technical support for a meaningful experience.

    For a listing of the University-approved billing rates, please visit: https://media.clemson.edu/finance/controller/rates/2627/virtual_reality_nature_lab_fy2627.pdf

    100% of the funds received through these University-approved billing rates go to supporting the Virtual Reality & Nature Lab and our continued development and delivery of Tandem VR™.

  • We commonly start with a Zoom or phone call with the family member who wishes to “champion” its creation. This person is often a primary caregiver for a family member who will primarily benefit from Tandem VR™. However, we welcome multiple family members to be involved in the initial and ongoing discussions related to this process.

    After this phone call or Zoom, our team will review our existing video repository for available footage we can adapt to your vision for this experience and then provide a quote and description of work, with examples of images of the envisioned landscapes that would be shown in VR, for your consideration and review. We then commonly meet again to adjust the scope and budget to the family’s needs and capacity.

    After we reach a mutual agreement, shared understanding and commitment, our team will begin the work. A single invoice will be emailed to the email address of your choice at the conclusion of the project for the full amount, as this is how the university handles invoices for projects such as Tandem VR™.

  • Yes! We have several families with whom we have worked, and we are happy to connect you with them for referrals to our process and experiences. Just let us know by emailing us at nature@clemson.edu, and we will share their contact information.

How is Tandem VR™ being used

Media Coverage

Virtual reality helps people share experiences. Upstate Today. June 2024.

Clemson researcher develops first-of-its-kind shared virtual reality experience, Tandem VR. Clemson News. February 2025.

One last game: Student builds virtual reality experience for hospice patients. Clemson News. April 2025.

Transformative Landscape: The Clemson Experimental Forest. Clemson CAFLS YouTube Channel. April 2025.

VR program allows Clemson fans on hospice to experience last game. Fox Carolina. May 2025.

Place Matters: Virtual Reality Nature Experiences for Patients and Families. National Public Radio (NPR) Defining Moments Conversations about Health and Healing Podcast. July 2025.

Presentations

South Carolina Nurses Association Annual Convention. Hilton Head, SC. Innovations: The Road Ahead with Technology in Nursing. Thrift, J., Hill, K., Bagwell, J., Gonzales, L., Anderson, R., O’dell, A., Boice, O., Card, E., Stewart, K., McAnirlin, O., Li, F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M. H. E. M., Moutogiannis, P., Thomas, G., Evatt, M., Farrell, E., Fasolino, T. Oct. 2025.

Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research Triple 7 Speaker Series. Clemson, SC. Immersed in wellness: Exploring immersive technology for mental health. Li, Fi. Oct. 2025.

USC-Upstate Mary Black College of Nursing Faculty & Staff Retreat/Workshop. Greenville, SC. Artificial Intelligence, Tandem VRTM and How Innovations are Shaping the Future of Nursing. Thrift, J., McAnirlin, O., Li, F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M. H. E. M., Moutogiannis, P., Thomas, G., Evatt, M., Farrell, E., Fasolino, T. May 2025.

American Nursing Informatics Association 2025 Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA. Artificial Intelligence: Where We Are, Where We Are Headed. Thrift, J. (Invited Keynote Speaker), McAnirlin, O., Li, F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M. H. E. M., Moutogiannis, P., Thomas, G., Evatt, M., Farrell, E., Fasolino, T. March 2025.

Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Seattle, Washington. Emotional Impact of Characters In Urban: A Cross-Cultural VR Study. Fu, L. November 2024.

Appalachian American Alliance of Nurse Practitioners Annual Nursing Conference. Greenville, SC. What’s Next in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Thrift, J. , McAnirlin, O., Li, F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M. H. E. M., Moutogiannis, P., Thomas, G., Evatt, M., Farrell, E., Fasolino, T. November 2024.

Prisma Health Education and Research Institute Showcase, Greenville, South Carolina. The Tandem VR™ protocol: Synchronized nature-based and other outdoor experiences in virtual reality for hospice patients and their caregivers. Thrift, J. Thomas, G., Evatt, M. (presenters), McAnirlin, O., Li, F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M. H. E. M., Moutogiannis, P., Farrell, E., & Fasolino, T. October 2024.

Clemson University Emeritus College, Clemson, South Carolina. Reimagining end-of-life care with Tandem VR™: Authentically personalizing virtual nature experiences for transformative farewells to loved places. McAnirlin, O. August 2024.

International Association of People-Environment Studies, Barcelona, Spain. Reimagining end-of-life care: A co-creation odyssey into authentically personalizing virtual nature experiences for transformative farewells to loved places. McAnirlin, O., Browning, M. H. E. M., Fasolino, T., Thrift, J., Pope, J. K., & Li, F. July 2024.

Real Emotions and Affect in Extended Realities (REALITIES) 2024, Milan, Italy. EchoSphere: A synchronous virtual reality research platform for environmental emotion research and intervention. Li, F., Yuan, S., McAnirlin, O., Browning, M. H. E. M., Stanojevic, C., & Bennett, C. July 2024.

The Academy of Leisure Sciences Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana. EchoSphere: A synchronous virtual reality experience for recreation and parks. Li, F., McAnirlin, O., Yuan, S., Browning, M. H. E. M., Pope, J. K., Thrift, J., & Fasolino, T. February 2024.

Medical University of South Carolina Palliative Care Showcase, Charleston, South Carolina. Tandem VR™: Synchronized nature-based experiences in virtual reality for hospice patients and their caregivers. Thrift, J., Fasolino, T., Pope, K., McAnirlin, O., Browning, M. H. E. M., McMahon, M., Moutogiannis, P., Li, F., Thomas, G., & Farrell, E. September 2023.

University of South Carolina School of Medicine 5th Annual Research Symposium, Greenville, South Carolina. Tandem VR™: Synchronized nature-based experiences in virtual reality for hospice patients and their caregivers. McMahon, M., McAnirlin, O., Browning, M. H. E. M., Fasolino, T., Thrift, J. & Pope, J. K. July 2023.

University of Washington Nature and Health Seminar. Personalized virtual nature as a tool for people living with severe COPD. McAnirlin, O. March 2023.

Articles

McAnirlin O., Thrift J., Li F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M., Moutogiannis, P., Thomas, G., Farrell, E., Evatt, M., & Fasolino, T. Tandem VR™ in Hospice Care: Exploring Pilot Data for Patient-Caregiver Dyads.American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®. 2026;0(0). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10499091261433182

Li, F., Yuan, S., McAnirlin, O., Browning, M., Stanojevic, C., & Bennett, C. (2025). EchoSphere: A Synchronous Virtual Reality Research Platform for Environmental Emotion Research and Intervention. TechRxiv. https://doi.org/10.36227/techrxiv.175000765.58703780/v1

McAnirlin, O. (2024). ‘It feels really vulnerable and a little dangerous’: When words are not enough. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2329423

McAnirlin, O., Browning, M. H. E. M., Fasolino, T., Okamoto, K., Sharaievska, I., Thrift, J., & Pope, J. K. (2024). Psychological well-being benefits of co-creating nature-based VR: Preliminary evidence from U.S. adults living with severe COPD. Wellbeing, Space & Society.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2024.100212

McAnirlin, O., Thrift, J., Li, F., Pope, J. K., Browning, M. H. E. M., Moutogiannis, P. P., Thomas, G., Farrell, E., Evatt, M. M., & Fasolino, T. (2024). The Tandem VR™ protocol: Synchronized nature-based and other outdoor experiences in virtual reality for hospice patients and their caregivers.Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101318

Clinical Trials

Tandem VR™: Synchronized nature-based experiences in virtual reality for hospice patients and their caregivers. Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT06186960

Tandem VR™ captures the nostalgia of shared moments and bucket list experiences with the people you love.

Inquiries about Tandem VR™

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