BALANCE TRAINING IN AN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENT FOR LOWER EXTREMITY EXERCISE AND REHABILITATION
Date
2024-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Balance training is essential for physical rehabilitation procedures, as it can improve functional mobility and enhance cognitive coordination. However, conventional
balance training methods may have limitations in terms of motivation, real-time objective feedback, and personalization, which a virtual reality (VR) setup may better
provide. This work presents an immersive VR training environment for lower extremity
balance rehabilitation with real-time guidance and feedback. The VR training environment immerses the user in a 3D ice rink model where a virtual coach (agent) leads
them through a series of balance poses, and the user controls a trainee avatar with their
own movements. The application includes two coaching styles: positive-reinforcement
and autonomous-supportive, and two viewpoints of the trainee avatar: first-person and
third-person. We evaluated the proposed environment in a user study with healthy,
non-clinical participants (n=16, 24.4 +- 5.7 years old, 9 females). The results show that
participants exhibited stronger performance in the positive-reinforcement style compared to the autonomous-supportive style. Additionally, in the third-person viewpoint,
the participants exhibited more stability in the positive-reinforcement style compared
to the autonomous-supportive style. For viewpoint, participants exhibited stronger
performance in the first-person viewpoint compared to third-person in the autonomous-supportive style, while they were comparable in the positive-reinforcement style. There
were no significant effects on the foot height and number of mistakes. Furthermore,
we report the analysis of user performance with balance training poses, as well as subjective measures based on questionnaires to assess the user experience, usability, and
task load. The proposed VR balance training could offer an interactive, adaptive, and
engaging environment and open new potential research directions for lower extremity
rehabilitation. We also take steps towards a future direction of this work by modifying
the system for clinical use, sharing the system with an expert in biomechanics and older
adults with balance impairments, and receiving their qualitative feedback to initiate
the process of a formal clinical study.