Videojuegos como herramientas para la rehabilitación física, neuro-rehabilitación y el entrenamiento cognitivo. Experiencia del Human Computer Interaction Group

Los videojuegos son un área que evoluciona constantemente y se diversifica. Con esa diversificación los ellos han encontrado espacios nuevos donde pueden ser usados para objetivos mayores al mero entretenimiento. Así nacen los videojuegos serios (serious games) los cuales podríamos dividir en dos grandes grupos: los videojuegos para la educación y el entrenamiento, y los videojuegos para la salud. Desde el año 2012, investigadores de las facultades en Ciencias de la Salud (medicina y ciencias del deporte) e Ingenierías (sistemas y física) crearon el Human Computer Interaction Group (HCI Group), 1un grupo multidisciplinar que se enfocó en diseñar y desarrollar tecnologías interactivas aplicadas en salud. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo describir el proceso de diseño, desarrollo y validación de cuatro videojuegos serios aplicados en áreas de la rehabilitación física, la neuro-rehabilitación y el entrenamiento cognitivo. Específicamente, describe el papel del desarrollador dentro del equipo multidisciplinar de investigación. Los videojuegos desarrollados utilizaron múltiples tecnologías de interacción como las de captura de movimiento (MoCap), interfaces cerebro computador (BCI) y realidad virtual (VR). Los videojuegos desarrollados son: Karate Rehab (rehabilitación miembro superior), Virtual Balance (entrenamiento del equilibrio y atención), BCI Duck Hunt (neuro-rehabilitación accidente cerebro vascular) y Desafío Cosecha (entrenamiento cognitivo atención sostenida). Estos videojuegos han sido implementados en tratamientos en la Unidad de Acción Motora de la Clínica del Dolor del Eje Cafetero y el Instituto de Audiología Integral de Pereira como complemento a las terapias convencionales. Para su implementación se utilizó la metodología de diseño publicada y ampliamente documentada por Pamela Kato, consistente en siete pasos: i) acordar con claridad y objetividad el problema a resolver; ii) acordar una teoría o teorías sobre cómo resolverla; iii) encontrar las medidas correctas; iv) proporcionar una estructura para alcanzar los objetivos de investigación; v) pensar en el diseño de la investigación; vi) comprometer al grupo objetivo; vii) considerar factores de riesgo y seguridad. Un total de siete artículos publicados en conferencias nacionales e internacionales especializados, un premio internacional (finalista internacional MIT under 35 otorgado a John Muñoz2)3 de innovación y un repositorio de los videojuegos desarrollados son presentados como resultados del impacto científico generado a partir de los videojuegos serios en salud. Se muestra que los videojuegos para la salud se convierten en el enfoque tecnológico de la rehabilitación física, la neuro-rehabilitación y el entrenamiento cognitivo que suple las necesidades evidenciadas en los usuarios al momento de hacer la terapia, estimulando a través del juego y la competencia la rehabilitación

Biosignal‐based human–machine interfaces for assistance and rehabilitation : a survey

As a definition, Human–Machine Interface (HMI) enables a person to interact with a device. Starting from elementary equipment, the recent development of novel techniques and unobtrusive devices for biosignals monitoring paved the way for a new class of HMIs, which take such biosignals as inputs to control various applications. The current survey aims to review the large literature of the last two decades regarding biosignal‐based HMIs for assistance and rehabilitation to outline state‐of‐the‐art and identify emerging technologies and potential future research trends. PubMed and other databases were surveyed by using specific keywords. The found studies were further screened in three levels (title, abstract, full‐text), and eventually, 144 journal papers and 37 conference papers were included. Four macrocategories were considered to classify the different biosignals used for HMI control: biopotential, muscle mechanical motion, body motion, and their combinations (hybrid systems). The HMIs were also classified according to their target application by considering six categories: prosthetic control, robotic control, virtual reality control, gesture recognition, communication, and smart environment control. An ever‐growing number of publications has been observed over the last years. Most of the studies (about 67%) pertain to the assistive field, while 20% relate to rehabilitation and 13% to assistance and rehabilitation. A moderate increase can be observed in studies focusing on robotic control, prosthetic control, and gesture recognition in the last decade. In contrast, studies on the other targets experienced only a small increase. Biopotentials are no longer the leading control signals, and the use of muscle mechanical motion signals has experienced a considerable rise, especially in prosthetic control. Hybrid technologies are promising, as they could lead to higher performances. However, they also increase HMIs’ complex-ity, so their usefulness should be carefully evaluated for the specific application

Serious Games and Mixed Reality Applications for Healthcare

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have long histories in the healthcare sector, offering the opportunity to develop a wide range of tools and applications aimed at improving the quality of care and efficiency of services for professionals and patients alike. The best-known examples of VR–AR applications in the healthcare domain include surgical planning and medical training by means of simulation technologies. Techniques used in surgical simulation have also been applied to cognitive and motor rehabilitation, pain management, and patient and professional education. Serious games are ones in which the main goal is not entertainment, but a crucial purpose, ranging from the acquisition of knowledge to interactive training.These games are attracting growing attention in healthcare because of their several benefits: motivation, interactivity, adaptation to user competence level, flexibility in time, repeatability, and continuous feedback. Recently, healthcare has also become one of the biggest adopters of mixed reality (MR), which merges real and virtual content to generate novel environments, where physical and digital objects not only coexist, but are also capable of interacting with each other in real time, encompassing both VR and AR applications.This Special Issue aims to gather and publish original scientific contributions exploring opportunities and addressing challenges in both the theoretical and applied aspects of VR–AR and MR applications in healthcare

QUANDO JOGO ATÉ ME ESQUEÇO DAS DORES: Jogos digitais como estratégia para a reabilitação física

Não é recente a ideia de recorrer aos jogos digitais como ferramenta de apoio à reabilitação física de pacientes. As causas que afetam a mobilidade física podem ser várias desde Acidentes Vasculares Cerebrais, o envelhecimento ou traumas causados por incidentes. Neste artigo são alvo de análise e discussão jogos digitais e sistemas digitais gamificados que promovem a realização de atividade física como forma de fisioterapia de diversas patologias. O artigo pretende ainda discutir e enquadrar um conjunto de recomendações que devem ser consideradas no desenvolvimento de jogos digitais desta natureza.     PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Jogos Digitais; Reabilitação física; gamificação; Interação humano-computador.     ABSTRACT                                 The idea of using digital games in patients' physical rehabilitation is not new. The causes that affect physical mobility can range from stroke, aging or trauma caused by incidents. In this article, digital games and gamified digital systems that encourage physical activity as a form of physiotherapy of various pathologies are the subject of analysis and discussion. This article aims to discuss and present a set of recommendations that should be considered in the development of such digital games.     KEYWORDS: Videogames; Physical rehabilitation; gamification; Human-computer interaction.     RESUMEN La idea de utilizar los juegos digitales como una herramienta para apoyar la rehabilitación física de los pacientes no es nueva. Las causas que afectan la movilidad física pueden ir desde accidentes cerebrovasculares, envejecimiento hasta traumatismos causados por incidentes. En este artículo, el objeto de análisis y discusión es los juegos digitales y los sistemas de gamificación que promueven la actividad física como una forma de fisioterapia de diversas patologías. El artículo también tiene la intención de discutir y enmarcar un conjunto de recomendaciones que deben considerarse en el desarrollo de juegos digitales de este tipo.   PALABRAS CLAVE: Juegos digitales; Rehabilitación física; gamificación; Interacción humano-computador

Eldo-care: EEG with Kinect sensor based telehealthcare for the disabled and the elderly

Telehealthcare systems are nowadays becoming a massive daily helping kit for elderly and disabled people. By using the Kinect sensors, remote monitoring has become easy. Also, the sensors' data are useful for the further improvement of the device. In this paper, we have discussed our newly developed “Eldo-care” system. This system is designed for the assessment and management of diverse neurological illnesses. The telemedical system is developed to monitor the psycho-neurological condition. People with disabilities and the elderly frequently experience access issues to essential services. Researchers today are concentrating on rehabilitative technologies based on human-computer interfaces that are closer to social-emotional intelligence. The goal of the study is to help old and disabled persons with cognitive rehabilitation using machine learning techniques. Human brain activity is observed using electroencephalograms, while user movement is tracked using Kinect sensors. Chebyshev filter is used for feature extraction and noise reduction. Utilizing the autoencoder technique, categorization is carried out by a Convolutional neural network with an accuracy of 95% and higher based on transfer learning. A better quality of life for older and disabled persons will be attained through the application of the suggested system in real time. The proposed device is attached to the subject under monitoring

Survey of movement reproduction in immersive virtual rehabilitation.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers via the DOI in this record Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful tool for rehabilitation. Many effective VR applications have been developed to support motor rehabilitation of people affected by motor issues. Movement reproduction, which transfers users' movements from the physical world to the virtual environment, is commonly used in VR rehabilitation applications. Three major components are required for movement reproduction in VR: (1) movement input, (2) movement representation, and (3) movement modulation. Until now, movement reproduction in virtual rehabilitation has not yet been systematically studied. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art review on this subject by focusing on existing literature on immersive motor rehabilitation using VR. In this review, we provided in-depth discussions on the rehabilitation goals and outcomes, technology issues behind virtual rehabilitation, and user experience regarding movement reproduction. Similarly, we present good practices and highlight challenges and opportunities that can form constructive suggestions for the design and development of fit-for-purpose VR rehabilitation applications and can help frame future research directions for this emerging area that combines VR and health.Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China ProgrammeKey Program Special Fund of Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool UniversityResearch Development Fund of Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool Universit

Fatigue-Aware gaming system for motor rehabilitation using biocybernetic loops.

Esta tesis tiene como objetivo proponer una terapia de rehabilitación complementaria basada en paradigmas de interacción humano-computadora (HCI) que exploran i) Técnicas de rehabilitación virtual, integrando tecnologías de realidad virtual (VR) sofisticadas y (hoy en día) accesibles, ii) sensores fisiológicos de bajo costo, a saber, electromiografía de superficie (sEMG) y iii)sistema inteligente, a través de adaptación biocibernética, para proporcionar una nueva técnica de rehabilitación virtual..

Fatigue-Aware gaming system for motor rehabilitation using biocybernetic loops.

Esta tesis tiene como objetivo proponer una terapia de rehabilitación complementaria basada en paradigmas de interacción humano-computadora (HCI) que exploran i) Técnicas de rehabilitación virtual, integrando tecnologías de realidad virtual (VR) sofisticadas y (hoy en día) accesibles, ii) sensores fisiológicos de bajo costo, a saber, electromiografía de superficie (sEMG) y iii)sistema inteligente, a través de adaptación biocibernética, para proporcionar una nueva técnica de rehabilitación virtual..

EEG-Induced Autonomous Game-Teaching to a Robot Arm by Human Trainers Using Reinforcement Learning

This paper deals with a simple indoor game, where the player has to pass a ball through a ring fixed on a variable pan-tilt platform. The motivation of the research is to learn the gaming actions of an experienced player by a robot arm for subsequent training to younger children (trainee) by the robot. The robot learns the gaming actions of the player at different game states, determined by pan-tilt orientations of the ring and its radial distance with respect to the player. The actions of the experienced player/expert are defined by six parameters: three junction-coordinates in the right arm of the player and the 3-dimensional speed of the ball in a given throw. Reinforcement learning is employed here to adapt a state-action probability matrix of a probabilistic learning automation based on the reward (or penalty) scores of the player due to the success (or failure) in passing the ball through a given ring. A hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI) is used to detect the failures in the gaming action of the player by natural arousal of Error-related Potential (ErrP) signal following motor execution, indicated by motor imageries. In absence (presence) of ErrP after a motor imagination, the system considers a success (failure) in the player’s trials, and thus adapts the probabilities in the learning automata according to success/failure of individual game instances. After the convergence of the state-action probability matrix, the same is used for planning, where the action corresponding to the highest probability at a given state in the automaton is selected for execution. The robot can autonomously train the game to the children using the learning automaton with converged probability scores. Experiments undertaken confirm that the success rate of the robot arm in the motor execution phase is very high (above 90%) when the ring is placed at a moderate distance of 4 feet from the robot