Development of a Hardware/Software System for Proprioception Exergaming

Physiotherapy and rehabilitation are getting ever more relevance as an integral part of healthcare devising and employing new, effective methodologies and tools. However, not seldom are such tools boring and difficult to use properly for achieving the given training and therapeutic goals. Exergaming, the combination of physical exercise and video gaming, may help to overcome these issues by offering enjoyment and motivation. However, the literature lacks papers investigating how to integrate such devices into a serious game combining effectiveness and enjoyment. In this paper, we focus on the Balance Board (BB), a device used in gyms and in several health-related applications [1], and present an exergaming system for proprioception training. The system includes a BB, which was instrumented to act as a motion controller for an ad-hoc developed, simple 3D video game. The system aims to provide enjoyable training with the BB, boosting equilibrium exercising through the simulation of downhill skiing. We validated the score computation and tested the efficacy of the system in a user test with 40 participants, in ecological settings. The evaluation concerned user performance and a game experience questionnaire. The results showed statistically significant improvement in players’ ability to use the BB. Users also reported a positive gameplay experience

Gamified 3D orthopaedic rehabilitation using low cost and portable inertial sensors

Summarization: This work introduces an innovative gamified 3D rehabilitation application intended for patients that have undergone Total Knee Replacement surgery, in collaboration with the General Hospital in Chania, Crete, Greece. The application uses a single custom-made, light, portable and low-cost sensor node consisting of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) attached on a lower limb in order to capture its orientation in space in real-time, while the patient is completing a physiotherapy protocol. The aim is to increase patient engagement during physiotherapy by motivating the user to participate in a serious game. The proposed sensor node attached on the lower limb drives a graphical image of the patient's limb motion as part of a 3D computer graphics scene displayed on a tablet or phone. It then classifies the exercise performed during physiotherapy as accurately performed or not and increases patient compliance via a reward system. Our goal is to reduce the need for the physical presence of a physiotherapist by aiding the efficient performance of exercise at any location, e.g. indoors and outdoors by just utilizing a light sensor and an Android device. A novel algorithm is proposed that automatically classifies an exercise in real-time. It is shown that patient engagement is enhanced when dynamically connected with a gamified app.Παρουσιάστηκε στο: 9th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Application