Skip to main content

Usage of VR Headsets for Rehabilitation Exergames

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering (IWBBIO 2017)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNBI,volume 10209))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The work presented here is part of a large project aimed at finding new ways to tackle exergames used for physical rehabilitation. The preferred user group consists of physically impaired who normally cannot use commercially available games; our approach wants to fill a niche and allow them to get the same playing experience like healthy. Four exercises were implemented with the Blender Game engine and connected to a motion capture device (Kinect) via a modular middleware. The games incorporate special features that enhance weak user movements, such that the avatar reacts in the same way as for persons without physical restrictions. Additionally, virtual reality glasses have been integrated to achieve a more immersive feeling during play. In this work, we compare the results of preliminary user tests, performed with and without VR glasses. Test outcomes are good for motion amplification in some of the games but do not present generally better results when using the VR glasses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Hondori, H.M., Khademi, M.A.: Review on technical and clinical impact of Microsoft Kinect on physical therapy and rehabilitation. J. Med. Eng. 2014, 846514–846530 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Apparelyzed. Spinal Cord Injury and Cauda Equina Syndrome Support Forum. http://www.apparelyzed.com/forums/topic/25204-xbox-360-best-kinect-game-for-wheelchair-users-fable-the-journey

  3. Webster, D., Celik, O.: Systematic review of Kinect applications in elderly care and stroke rehabilitation. J. Neuroeng. Rehabil. 11(108), 1–24 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Skjæret, N., et al.: Exercise and rehabilitation delivered through exergames in older adults: an integrative review of technologies, safety and efficacy. Int. J. Med. Inform. 85, 1–16 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Borghese, P.N.A.: REWIRE. https://sites.google.com/site/projectrewire/

  6. Pirovano, M. et al.: Self-adaptive games for rehabilitation at home. In: IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games, pp. 179–186 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Borghese, N.A., Mainetti, R., Pirovano, M., Lanzi, P.L.: An intelligent game engine for the at-home rehabilitation of stroke patients. In: IEEE 2nd International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health, pp. 1–8 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Roy, A.K., Soni, Y., Dubey, S.: Enhancing effectiveness of motor rehabilitation using kinect motion sensing technology. In: IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference: South Asia Satellite (GHTC-SAS), pp. 298–304 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Meleiro, P., Rodrigues, R., Jacob, J., Marques, T.: Natural user interfaces in the motor development of disabled children. Procedia Technol. 13, 66–75 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kaminer, C., LeBras, K., McCall, J., Phan, T., Naud, P., Teodorescu, M., Kurniawan, S.: An immersive physical therapy game for stroke survivors. In: Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2014 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Shaw, L.A., et al.: Challenges in virtual reality exergame design. In: 16th Australasian User Interface Conference, Sydney (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Finkelstein, S., et al.: Astrojumper: motivating exercise with an immersive virtual reality exergame. Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ. 20, 78–92 (2011). MIT Press

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Eckert, M., Gómez-Martinho, I., Meneses, J., Martinez, J.F.: A multi functional plug-in for exergames. In: International Symposium on Consumer Electronics, Madrid, pp. 4–6 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Eckert, M., Gómez-Martinho, I., Meneses, J., Martínez, J.F.: A modular middleware approach for exergaming. In: IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics, Berlin, pp. 172–176 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Eckert, M., Gómez-Martinho, I., Meneses, J., Martínez, J.F.: New approaches to exciting exergame-experiences for people with motor function impairments. Sensors 17(15), 1–22 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kinect for Windows SDK v1.8. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/

  17. Introduction to OSC. http://opensoundcontrol.org/introduction-osc

  18. Oculus Rift V.R. https://www.oculus.com/

  19. OSVR Developer Portal. http://osvr.github.io

  20. Blender Foundation Blender.org. http://www.blender.org/

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored by the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation: TEC2013-48453-C2-2-R.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martina Eckert .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Eckert, M., Zarco, J., Meneses, J., Martínez, JF. (2017). Usage of VR Headsets for Rehabilitation Exergames. In: Rojas, I., Ortuño, F. (eds) Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering. IWBBIO 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10209. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56154-7_39

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56154-7_39

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56153-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56154-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics