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Wearable Virtual Reality Tool for Balance Training: The Design and Validation on Healthy

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Robotics in Natural Settings (CLAWAR 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 530))

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Abstract

Balance disabilities affect the human quality of life. Current directions for balance rehabilitation require the inclusion of virtual reality (VR) tools as a complementary robotic tool to conventional physical therapies to accelerate balance recovery. This works aims to present the design and validation on healthy of a wearable and fully immersive VR-based tool following a user-centred design. This wearable VR tool comprises four Activities of Daily Living-based virtual challenges including nine motor tasks, chosen according to those most performed in the literature, as well as in the tasks of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) clinical tests. This system comprises wearable VR technology, providing multimodal feedback (visual, sonorous, and vibrotactile cues), and integrates wearable inertial sensors for real-time motor assessment. The system’s operability was validated with six healthy subjects executing BBS and TUG related motor tasks to assess balance performance after and before two training trials for each virtual challenge. The results showed statistically significant improvements regarding COM’ displacement and velocity during “Cooking” and “Watch Tv” games and after VR training. The VR-based tool was rated with high IPQ and IMI scores. This wearable VR-based tool has the potential to effectively improve balance and walking, and to effectively increase the user’s active participation and enthusiasm during balance training; thus, contributing to accelerate the user’s balance and motor recovery.

This work has been supported by the FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Re-gional do Norte and national funds from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia with the Smar-tOs project under Grant NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030386, under the national support to R&D units grant, through the reference project UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020, under scholarship reference 2020.05709.BD, and under Stimulus of Scientific Employment with the grant 2020.03393.CEECIND.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for MicroElectroMechanical Systems (CMEMS), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Diana Rito, Cristiana Pinheiro, Joana Figueiredo & Cristina P. Santos

  2. LABBELS – Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Diana Rito, Cristiana Pinheiro, Joana Figueiredo & Cristina P. Santos

Authors
  1. Diana Rito
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  2. Cristiana Pinheiro
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  3. Joana Figueiredo
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  4. Cristina P. Santos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana Rito .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    José M. Cascalho

  2. School of Engineering, London South Bank University, London, UK

    Mohammad Osman Tokhi

  3. School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Manuel F. Silva

  4. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Armando Mendes

  5. Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (M3), Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Khaled Goher

  6. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Matthias Funk

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Rito, D., Pinheiro, C., Figueiredo, J., Santos, C.P. (2023). Wearable Virtual Reality Tool for Balance Training: The Design and Validation on Healthy. In: Cascalho, J.M., Tokhi, M.O., Silva, M.F., Mendes, A., Goher, K., Funk, M. (eds) Robotics in Natural Settings. CLAWAR 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 530. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15226-9_48

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