420 research outputs found

    Virtual reality meets diabetes

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    This is the final version. Available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record. Background. This article provides a detailed summary of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications in diabetes. The purpose of this comparative review is to identify application areas, direction and provide foundation for future virtual reality tools in diabetes. Method. Features and benefits of each VR diabetes application are compared and discussed, following a thorough review of literature on virtual reality for diabetes using multiple databases. The weaknesses of existing VR applications are discussed and their strengths identified so that these can be carried forward. A novel virtual reality diabetes tool prototype is also developed and presented. Results. This research identifies three major categories where VR is being used in diabetes: education, prevention and treatment. Within diabetes education, there are three target groups: clinicians, adults with diabetes and children with diabetes. Both VR and AR have shown benefits in areas of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Conclusions. Virtual reality and augmented reality in diabetes have demonstrated potential to enhance training of diabetologists and enhance education, prevention and treatment for adults and children with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Future research can continually build on virtual and augmented reality diabetes applications by integrating wide stakeholder inputs and diverse digital platforms. Several areas of VR diabetes are in early stages, with advantages and opportunities. Further VR diabetes innovations are encouraging to enhance training, management and treatment of diabetes.Royal Academy of EngineeringNational Institute for Health ResearchExeter Center of Excellence in Diabetes (ExCEeD

    Gait Analysis and Rehabilitation Using Web-Based Pose Estimation

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    Gait abnormalities are one of the most common health conditions in the elderly population, with almost one in three people over 60 experiencing symptoms that disrupt their movement [1]. These symptoms can cause disability [2] and present an increased fall risk [3] [4]. Detecting these abnormalities early is, therefore, crucial as it reduces the likelihood of injuries and accidents. Current treatments for gait abnormalities depend on the condition, but many treatment plans commonly incorporate some form of physiotherapy. Clinicians typically deliver physiotherapy in the form of gait assessments and targeted exercises or therapies. Recent research has also shown that virtual reality (VR) treadmill walking, using motion capture technology, can be an effective method of treating certain gait abnormalities [5] [6] [7]. This thesis covers the development of a web-based VR treadmill walking system to make VR physiotherapy cheaper and more accessible. The system uses convolutional neural networks to assess the patient’s gait from an RGB webcam feed and provides them with live feedback on their body position within a VR environment. The system’s gait assessment capabilities are validated by comparing it to a gold standard – the OptiTrack motion capture system. The results demonstrate that the system’s percentage error (ϔ˜%) was much less for temporal gait metrics (0.24 < ϔ˜< 12.40) than it was for spatial ones (70.90 < ϔ˜% < 79.72). Four out of five spatial metrics also had a “very strong correlation” (0.74 < r < 0.86) when compared to the OptiTrack’s metrics, meaning the accuracy could be increased using a gain factor. These findings establish the basis for a similar study with a larger sample size. They also raise the possibility that this system could analyse gait in the clinic and the home without specialist motion capture equipment or facilities

    Wearable Sensors and Smart Devices to Monitor Rehabilitation Parameters and Sports Performance: An Overview

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    A quantitative evaluation of kinetic parameters, the joint’s range of motion, heart rate, and breathing rate, can be employed in sports performance tracking and rehabilitation monitoring following injuries or surgical operations. However, many of the current detection systems are expensive and designed for clinical use, requiring the presence of a physician and medical staff to assist users in the device’s positioning and measurements. The goal of wearable sensors is to overcome the limitations of current devices, enabling the acquisition of a user’s vital signs directly from the body in an accurate and non–invasive way. In sports activities, wearable sensors allow athletes to monitor performance and body movements objectively, going beyond the coach’s subjective evaluation limits. The main goal of this review paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of wearable technologies and sensing systems to detect and monitor the physiological parameters of patients during post–operative rehabilitation and athletes’ training, and to present evidence that supports the efïŹcacy of this technology for healthcare applications. First, a classiïŹcation of the human physiological parameters acquired from the human body by sensors attached to sensitive skin locations or worn as a part of garments is introduced, carrying important feedback on the user’s health status. Then, a detailed description of the electromechanical transduction mechanisms allows a comparison of the technologies used in wearable applications to monitor sports and rehabilitation activities. This paves the way for an analysis of wearable technologies, providing a comprehensive comparison of the current state of the art of available sensors and systems. Comparative and statistical analyses are provided to point out useful insights for deïŹning the best technologies and solutions for monitoring body movements. Lastly, the presented review is compared with similar ones reported in the literature to highlight its strengths and novelties

    A Taxonomy of Freehand Grasping Patterns in Virtual Reality

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    Grasping is the most natural and primary interaction paradigm people perform every day, which allows us to pick up and manipulate objects around us such as drinking a cup of coffee or writing with a pen. Grasping has been highly explored in real environments, to understand and structure the way people grasp and interact with objects by presenting categories, models and theories for grasping approach. Due to the complexity of the human hand, classifying grasping knowledge to provide meaningful insights is a challenging task, which led to researchers developing grasp taxonomies to provide guidelines for emerging grasping work (such as in anthropology, robotics and hand surgery) in a systematic way. While this body of work exists for real grasping, the nuances of grasping transfer in virtual environments is unexplored. The emerging development of robust hand tracking sensors for virtual devices now allow the development of grasp models that enable VR to simulate real grasping interactions. However, present work has not yet explored the differences and nuances that are present in virtual grasping compared to real object grasping, which means that virtual systems that create grasping models based on real grasping knowledge, might make assumptions which are yet to be proven true or untrue around the way users intuitively grasp and interact with virtual objects. To address this, this thesis presents the first user elicitation studies to explore grasping patterns directly in VR. The first study presents main similarities and differences between real and virtual object grasping, the second study furthers this by exploring how virtual object shape influences grasping patterns, the third study focuses on visual thermal cues and how this influences grasp metrics, and the fourth study focuses on understanding other object characteristics such as stability and complexity and how they influence grasps in VR. To provide structured insights on grasping interactions in VR, the results are synthesized in the first VR Taxonomy of Grasp Types, developed following current methods for developing grasping and HCI taxonomies and re-iterated to present an updated and more complete taxonomy. Results show that users appear to mimic real grasping behaviour in VR, however they also illustrate that users present issues around object size estimation and generally a lower variability in grasp types is used. The taxonomy shows that only five grasps account for the majority of grasp data in VR, which can be used for computer systems aiming to achieve natural and intuitive interactions at lower computational cost. Further, findings show that virtual object characteristics such as shape, stability and complexity as well as visual cues for temperature influence grasp metrics such as aperture, category, type, location and dimension. These changes in grasping patterns together with virtual object categorisation methods can be used to inform design decisions when developing intuitive interactions and virtual objects and environments and therefore taking a step forward in achieving natural grasping interaction in VR

    I'm Transforming! Effects of Visual Transitions to Change of Avatar on the Sense of Embodiment in AR

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    International audienceVirtual avatars are more and more often featured in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications. When embodying a virtual avatar, one may desire to change of appearance over the course of the embodiment. However, switching suddenly from one appearance to another can break the continuity of the user experience and potentially impact the sense of embodiment (SoE), especially when the new appearance is very different. In this paper, we explore how applying smooth visual transitions at the moment of the change can help to maintain the SoE and benefit the general user experience. To address this, we implemented an AR system allowing users to embody a regular-shaped avatar that can be transformed into a muscular one through a visual effect. The avatar’s transformation can be triggered either by the user through physical action (“active” transition), or automatically launched by the system (“passive” transition). We conducted a user study to evaluate the effects of these two types of transformations on the SoE by comparing them to control conditions where there was no visual feedback of the transformation. Our results show that changing the appearance of one’s avatar with an active transition (with visual feedback), compared to a passive transition, helps to maintain the user’s sense of agency, a component of the SoE. They also partially suggest that the Proteus effects experienced during the embodiment were enhanced by these transitions. Therefore, we conclude that visual effects controlled by the user when changing their avatar’s appearance can benefit their experience by preserving the SoE and intensifying the Proteus effects

    Proceedings XXIII Congresso SIAMOC 2023

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    Il congresso annuale della SocietĂ  Italiana di Analisi del Movimento in Clinica (SIAMOC), giunto quest’anno alla sua ventitreesima edizione, approda nuovamente a Roma. Il congresso SIAMOC, come ogni anno, Ăš l’occasione per tutti i professionisti che operano nell’ambito dell’analisi del movimento di incontrarsi, presentare i risultati delle proprie ricerche e rimanere aggiornati sulle piĂč recenti innovazioni riguardanti le procedure e le tecnologie per l’analisi del movimento nella pratica clinica. Il congresso SIAMOC 2023 di Roma si propone l’obiettivo di fornire ulteriore impulso ad una giĂ  eccellente attivitĂ  di ricerca italiana nel settore dell’analisi del movimento e di conferirle ulteriore respiro ed impatto internazionale. Oltre ai qualificanti temi tradizionali che riguardano la ricerca di base e applicata in ambito clinico e sportivo, il congresso SIAMOC 2023 intende approfondire ulteriori tematiche di particolare interesse scientifico e di impatto sulla societĂ . Tra questi temi anche quello dell’inserimento lavorativo di persone affette da disabilitĂ  anche grazie alla diffusione esponenziale in ambito clinico-occupazionale delle tecnologie robotiche collaborative e quello della protesica innovativa a supporto delle persone con amputazione. VerrĂ  infine affrontato il tema dei nuovi algoritmi di intelligenza artificiale per l’ottimizzazione della classificazione in tempo reale dei pattern motori nei vari campi di applicazione

    Uusien virtuaalisen todellisuuden liikkumistapojen metsÀstys: Tuettu paikallaankÀvelemisjÀrjestelmÀ

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    This thesis explores novel, physically challenging, locomotion methods within virtual reality (VR). In this work, we develop, experiment and evaluate a prototype system capable of employing multiple playing poses. We designed four different movement approaches utilizing position/orientation trackers attached to user's limbs and waist. From these approaches, we decided to proceed further with two of the most promising ones. We conducted an user study (N=10) comparing these two approaches to receive more diverse feedback. The main themes revolving around the study were usability, simulator sickness and exercise. We decided to name the developed movement approaches according to the playing pose: Chair, Supine, Rings and Dip Rack. The two modes chosen for the user study were Chair and Supine. In the Chair mode the player sits on a swivel chair and imitates walking or running by swinging their legs in the air. In the Supine mode the player lies on the ground on their back and swings their legs in the air. Based on the user feedback, we can conclude that there exists potential within the experimented approaches. Due to the small size of our user study we are unable conclude any statistical relevance, but we believe that this work can provide valuable information for future VR locomotion methods, as well as exergames.TÀmÀn diplomityön aihe on uudenlaiset virtuaalisen todellisuuden (eng. virtual reality, VR) liikkumistavat, jotka hyödyntÀvÀt fyysisesti vaativia asentoja ja liikkeitÀ. TÀssÀ työssÀ kehitÀmme, testaamme ja arvioimme kehittÀmÀÀmme prototyyppiÀ. Kehitimme neljÀ eri tapaa liikkua virtuaalisessa todellisuudessa hyvÀksikÀyttÀen pelaajan jalkoihin, kÀsiin ja vyötÀrölle kiinnitettyjÀ sijainti- ja asentojÀljittimiÀ. NÀistÀ neljÀstÀ lÀhestymistavasta, kahdesta ilmeni muita enemmÀn potentiaalia, joten otimme ne jatkokehitykseen. Suoritimme laadullisen kÀyttÀjÀtutkimuksen (10 testaajaa) saadaksemme monimuotoisempaa palautetta prototyypistÀmme. Vertailimme kÀyttÀjÀtesteissÀ kahta eri lÀhestymistapaamme seuraavien teemojen ympÀrillÀ: kÀytettÀvyys, virtuaalipahoinvointi ja liikunta. Kutsumme kehittÀmiÀmme liikkumistapoja pelaamisasennon mukaan: Tuoli, SelÀllÀÀn Makaaminen, Renkaat ja Dippiteline. Valitsemamme kaksi tapaa olivat Tuoli ja SelÀllÀÀn Makaaminen. Tuoli-pelitavassa pelaaja istuu toimistotuolilla ja imitoi kÀvelemistÀ tai juoksemista jalkojaan ilmassa heiluttaen. SelÀllÀÀn Makaamis -pelitavassa pelaaja makaa selÀllÀÀn patjalla ja heiluttaa jalkoja ilmassa. KÀyttÀjÀtestauksen palautteesta pystyimme pÀÀttelemÀÀn, ettÀ kehittÀmissÀmme liikkumistavoissa on potentiaalia. Pienen testaajamÀÀrÀn vuoksi emme voi todeta tilastollista merkityksellisyyttÀ havainnoillamme, mutta pyrimme silti luomaan tÀllÀ työllÀ pohjaa tulevaisuuden virtuaalisen todellisuuden liikkumistavoille, sekÀ liikuntapeleille
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