TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Joy Golliver recently visited the Washington state community where she and her late husband lived for more than 20 years. And her sons, who live in Seattle, texted their 84-year-old mother asking how she was able to travel from Tucson, Arizona, to Kachess Lake without them knowing.

Thanks to virtual reality, Golliver actually never left Tucson. "This technology can take us to any memory in our life that we want to visit," she said.

Golliver lives at the Fountains, one of two Tucson retirement communities serving as the launching pad for a program to see how virtual reality...