Mixed Reality Serious Games: The Therapist Perspective

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Mixed Reality System for upper limb stroke rehabilitation that enhances motivation, usability, and telemedicine capabilities, with positive preliminary acceptance results from a pilot study involving therapists.

Contribution

It presents a novel mixed reality rehabilitation system that addresses motivation, usability, progress tracking, and cost reduction, tested through a pilot study with promising acceptance.

Findings

Mixed reality system was more accepted than physical rehab.

PC game and MRS increased motivation compared to conventional methods.

Pilot study involved 3 therapists and 3 sessions for comparison.

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present a Mixed Reality System (MRS) for rehabilitation of the upper limb after stroke. The system answers the following challenges: (i) increase motivation of patients by making the training a personalized experience; (ii) take into account patients' impairments by offering intuitive and easy to use interaction modalities; (iii) make it possible to therapists to track patient's activities and to evaluate/track their progress; (iv) open opportunities for telemedicine and tele rehabilitation; (v) and provide an economically acceptable system by reducing both equipment and management costs. In order to test this system a pilot study has been conducted in conjunction with a French hospital in order to understand the potential and benefits of mixed reality. The pilot involved 3 therapists who 'played the role' of patients. Three sessions, one using conventional rehabilitation, another using an ad hoc developed game on a PC, and another using a mixed reality version of the same game were held. Results have shown the MRS and the PC game to be accepted more than physical rehabilitation.