Before Enzo Vinholi was the CEO of a growing virtual reality startup, he was just a high school student who wanted to do something nice for his grandmother.
Vinholi's family is originally from Brazil, and his grandmother lived with them in St. Paul for the majority of his childhood. But after suffering a series of strokes, she was forced to move back to Brazil.
"When we talked she would always ask about places in St. Paul we used to visit together, like the cathedral and Grand Avenue," Vinholi said. "You can send photos of those places, but it's not the same as being there."
Vinholi began building his own virtual version of St. Paul using satellite photos, audio and video, creating a personalized VR program for his grandmother.
"I saw that I could do something really amazing with this technology by recreating memories and wondered if I could do the same thing for other people," he said.
Vinholi started his company, Like It Was Yesterday, as a senior in high school. Now a rising junior in the Schulze College of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas, Vinholi spends most nights continuing to build his company, which designs virtual reality programs for senior citizens living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Like It Was Yesterdays's programs are designed to improve the quality of life for seniors suffering from conditions ranging from limited mobility and Arthritis to Alzheimer's disease. The company offers more than 1,000 hours of virtual reality programming for users seeking to recreate a variety of memories and life experiences. Users can revisit favorite vacation spots, cities where they used to live, even the place where they had their first kiss decades earlier.
Like It Was Yesterday also offers programs like art, meditation and museum tours, which Vinholi says are particularly popular among patients with limited mobility. Some of these programs are designed in-house, while others are licensed from outside companies. Vinholi said he hopes to continue developing personalized programming as Like It Was Yesterday continues to grow.
"We can bring them anywhere in the world," Vinholi said. "We worked with one woman who became really emotional after trying it out. There are some people who hadn't revisited these memories in years."
Virtual reality has become one of the most buzzworthy topics in tech. Total venture capital investment into virtual reality companies has risen from $89 million in 2012 to nearly $2.4 billion in 2017, according to PitchBook.
The tech has experienced traction on a local level, too. In 2017, Ebenezer, a Fairview Health Services unit that runs senior-living facilities around the Twin Cities, began offering its own VR program. The technology, built by Minneapolis-based VR startup Visual, allowed seniors to immerse themselves in nature scenes or engage in other experiences, like watching a concert.
The company has been testing its tech with a handful of private clients and local senior homes. It recently cemented its first partnership with a local senior living facility but declined to name which one. The facility will purchase a headset preloaded with curated content. Staff will be trained on how to use the devices, and facilitate sessions for residents.
Obviously, it's not easy to build a company as a college student. Vinholi says that St. Thomas has played a big role in helping him build his company, providing mentorship, research, legal assistance and office space in downtown Minneapolis.
"My hope is that we'll be able to offer this to people in a low-cost way as devices get less expensive," he said. "The technology has been developing so quickly. I think one day it could change peoples' lives for the better."
