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Virtual reality software package for implementing motor learning and rehabilitation experiments

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Abstract

Virtual reality games for rehabilitation are attracting increasing growth. In particular, there is a demand for games that allow therapists to identify an individual’s difficulties and customize the control of variables, such as speed, size, distance, as well as visual and auditory feedback. This study presents and describes a virtual reality software package (Bridge Games) to promote rehabilitation of individuals living with disabilities and highlights preliminary researches of its use for implementing motor learning and rehabilitation. First, the study presents seven games in the software package that can be chosen by the rehabilitation team, considering the patient’s needs. All game characteristics are described including name, function presentation, objective and valuable measurements for rehabilitation. Second, preliminary results illustrate some applications of two games, considering 343 people with various disabilities and health status. Based on the results, in the Coincident Timing game, there was a main effect of movement sensor type (in this instance the most functional device was the keyboard when compared with Kinect and touch screen) on average time reached by sample analyzed, F(2, 225) = 4.42, p < 0.05. Similarly, in the Challenge! game, a main effect was found for movement sensor type. However, in this case, touch screen provided better performance than Kinect and Leap Motion, F(2, 709) = 5.90, p < 0.01. Thus, Bridge Games is a possible software game to quantify motor learning. Moreover, the findings suggest that motor skills might be practiced differently depending on the environmental interface in which the game may be used.

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Acknowledgements

The author TBC gratefully acknowledge grant financial support from UNIEDU Post graduation Program, Santa Catarina State, Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Medicina do ABC (FMABC), Av. Príncipe de Gales, 821 - Príncipe de Gales, Santo André, SP, CEP 09060-650, Brazil

    Tânia Brusque Crocetta, Regiani Guarnieri, Luiz Carlos de Abreu & Carlos Bandeira de Mello Monteiro

  2. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades da Universidade de São Paulo (EACH-USP), Rua Arlindo Béttio, 1000 - Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP, CEP 03828-000, Brazil

    Luciano Vieira de Araújo, Fernando Henrique Inocêncio Borba Ferreira & Carlos Bandeira de Mello Monteiro

  3. Faculdade de Medicina, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Reabilitação, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Rua Cipotânea, 51 - Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, CEP 05360-160, Brazil

    Thaís Massetti

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  1. Tânia Brusque Crocetta
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  2. Luciano Vieira de Araújo
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  3. Regiani Guarnieri
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  4. Thaís Massetti
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  5. Fernando Henrique Inocêncio Borba Ferreira
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  6. Luiz Carlos de Abreu
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  7. Carlos Bandeira de Mello Monteiro
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Contributions

All authors participated in the acquisition of data and revision of the manuscript. All authors determined the design, interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and gave final approval for the version submitted for publication.

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Correspondence to Tânia Brusque Crocetta.

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Crocetta, T.B., de Araújo, L.V., Guarnieri, R. et al. Virtual reality software package for implementing motor learning and rehabilitation experiments. Virtual Reality 22, 199–209 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-017-0323-2

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