Trends in virtual reality technologies for the learning patient

NextMed convened the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 22 (MMVR 22) conference in 2016. Since 1992, the conference has brought together a diverse group of researchers to share creative solutions for the evolving challenge of integrating virtual reality tools into medical education. Virtual reality (VR) and its enabling technologies utilize hardware and software to simulate environments and encounters where users can interact and learn. The MMVR 22 symposium proceedings contain projects that support a variety of learners: medical students, practitioners, soldiers, and patients. This report will contemplate the trends in virtual reality technologies for patients navigating their medical and healthcare learning. The learning patient seeks more than intervention; they seek prevention. From virtual humans and environments to motion sensors and haptic devices, patients are surrounded by increasingly rich and transformative data-driven tools. Applied data enables VR applications to simulate experience, predict health outcomes, and motivate new behavior. The MMVR 22 presents investigations into the usability of wearable devices, the efficacy of avatar inclusion, and the viability of multi-player gaming. With increasing need for individualized and scalable programming, only committed open source efforts will align instructional designers, technology integrators, trainers, and clinicians. Curriculum and InstructionCurriculum and Instructio

Fostering Functional Occupation and Mobility in People with Intellectual Disability and Visual Impairment Through Technology-Aided Support

Objectives: The study assessed a smartphone-based technology system, which was designed to support functional occupation and mobility in people with severe to profound intellectual disability and visual impairment. Methods: The technology system provided (a) verbal orientation cues to guide the participants to a desk with two containers (and two groups of 10 objects that were to be transported to two different destinations), (b) verbal instructions to take the objects (one at a time), (c) verbal orientation cues to reach the destinations where the objects taken had to be transported, (d) instructions to put away the objects at the destinations, and (e) praise and brief periods of preferred stimulation. Seven participants were involved in the study, which was carried out according to a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design. Results: During the baseline (when the technology system was not available), the participants produced few or no correct responses (i.e., failed to collect, transport, and deposit objects at the right destinations). During the intervention phase (i.e., with the support of the technology system), their mean frequency of correct responses per session was between close to 19 and close to 20 (out of a maximum possible of 20) and their mean session duration varied between about 16 and 29 min. Conclusions: The data suggest that the technology system used in this study may be a viable resource to support activity and mobility in people with intellectual and visual disabilities

Using motion-sensor games to encourage physical activity for adults with intellectual disability

Adults with Intellectual Disability (ID) are at high risk of being in poor health as a result of exercising infrequently; recent evidence indicates this is often due to there being a lack of opportunities to exercise. This pilot study involved an investigation of the use of motion-sensor game technology to enable and encourage exercise for this population. Five adults (two female; 3 male, aged 34-74 [M = 55.20, SD = 16.71] with ID used motion-sensor games to conduct exercise at weekly sessions at a day-centre. Session attendees reported to have enjoyed using the games, and that they would like to use the games in future. Interviews were conducted with six (four female; two male, aged 27-51 [M = 40.20, SD = 11.28]) day-centre staff, which indicated ways in which the motion-sensor games could be improved for use by adults with ID, and barriers to consider in relation to their possible future implementation. Findings indicate motion-sensor games provide a useful, enjoyable and accessible way for adults with ID to exercise. Future research could investigate implementation of motion-sensor games as a method for exercise promotion for this population on a larger scale

CorpOperatio: Game-inspired App for Encouraging Outdoor Physical Activity for People with Intellectual Disabilities

This thesis presents a serious mobile exergame for people with intellectual disabilities, to help people with intellectual disability be more physically active. Exergames are games with the purpose of physically engaging the user in the gameplay, and intervenes with sedentariness and repetitive behavior. The game is based around the use of augmented reality, which is described as bringing 3D virtual objects into a 3D real environment in real time. As the field of physical activity in people with intellectual disabilities is a low-research field, the project aims to create a technical solution to them improve their physical health. There are few solutions tailored for people with intellectual disabilities to aid in physical exercise, something we wanted to change. A physical activity mobile game was created using the Unity game engine and augmented reality. Requirements and design choices came through literature review, reference meetings and meetings with professional psychologists. The game was tested by intellectually disabled users in a controlled, randomized trial over the course of four days, with interviews after testing to get results. While evaluation of the application rvealed areas of potential improvement, the application is already usable for people with intellectual disabilities. Augmented reality proved to be challenging to understand initially, but also fun, once the concept was understood. We have created an application for encouraging physical activity for people with intellectual disabilities. The application shows promise, but also improvement points for it to be deployed to the public market

Increasing physical activity for individuals with intellectual disability through indoor bike cycling and exergaming

Studies reveal that individuals with intellectual disabilities have more sedentary lifestyles than the general population. Regular physical activity is of both medical and social importance, reducing risks of cardiovascular diseases and obesity. Health organizations recommend that everyone should at least engage in 150 minutes of physical activity each week because of the beneficial health effects. There exist several technical solutions that aim to encourage physical activity. Among these solutions are exergames, where the users must move their body to control game-objects. The idea behind exergames is that a user needs to engage in physical activity in order to play the video game. The point is that it should motivate the user to perform physical activity. Exergames comes in several forms and types on the market today. However, most of them are not user-friendly for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The video-game designs do not adapt to the many challenges that are present for this group. In this project we developed hardware and software modules to record the amount of physical activity on an indoor stationary bicycle and an ergometer bike. An app receives the recorded activity data and uses it to display entertainment for the user, which makes the app an exergame. The design and development process uses knowledge about individuals with intellectual disabilities to customize the system for this group. Information about individuals with intellectual disability has been gathered through literature searches, conferring with experts, talking with parents of children with intellectual disability, and staff working at institutions providing services for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The system is tested at an institution where several individuals with an intellectual disability could try it out. Feedback from testing indicates that the users with an intellectual disability enjoyed using the system, and it was a useful tool for the staff to promote physical activity for the users at the institution. Testing also gave valuable information on what should be included in the further development of the system to improve it. This project has shown that with close user interaction during the development, it is possible to create promising technical solutions for individuals with intellectual disability. The results of this project provide valuable information on beneficial technological interventions for individuals with intellectual disabilities to promote regular physical activity