Evaluation of an electronic video game for improvement of balance

Abstract

Virtual environments have been investigated for fitness and medical rehabilitation. In this study, the Sony EyeToy Ò and PlayStation 2 Ò were used with the AntiGrav TM game to evaluate their potential for improving postural balance. The game required lateral head, body, and arm movements. The performance on balance tests of subjects who trained for 3 weeks with this game was compared to the performance of controls who were not trained. Training subjects showed improvement for two of the three tests (each testing a different facet of balance), suggesting specificity of training, while control subjects did not show significant improvement on any test. Simulator sickness questionnaire results showed a variety of mild symptoms, which decreased over the training sessions. Motor learning analysis of the game scores showed that mastery had been achieved on the easier level in the game, but not on the second level of difficulty. This reflects the potential for continued learning and training through advanced levels within a game. A model parameter using the time constants of game score improvement was developed, which could be used to quantify the difficulty for any video game design. The results suggest that this video game could be used for some aspects of balance training.

Virtual Rehabilitation and Training for Postural Balance and Neuromuscular Control

“…The performance for the training subjects (n=7), mean=15 and 24 s, is compared to the performance of the control subjects (n=7) who did not receive training during the 3-week period; mean=25 and 19 s. The differences in balancing times were not significant for either group. [12] Figure 5. Simulator Sickness symptom occurrences over 7 subjects and 9 training sessions during a three week period.…”

“…The purpose of this study was to to characterize balance-related motor learning effects through game performance and to evaluate the effectiveness and specificity of the video game for balance training in healthy subjects. [12] …”

“…Here the user has successfully struck a pair of targets with both hands, and the user has been given a credit of extra time to complete the race. [12] …”

“…The experimental group trained 9 times during the threeweek period, and the control group received no training. For details, see [12].…”

Biological-Signal-Based User-Interface System for Virtual-Reality Applications for Healthcare

“…The biological-signal interfaces being used in traditional medical systems are now available for the general public following the development of wearable biological-signal devices. Biological-signal interfaces are used in rehabilitation, fitness, and sports training such as practicing the method of controlling breathing or training body balancing [13,14]. The application of biological-signal systems has expanded beyond the medical services to various other areas such as education, information security, and human-computer interaction (HCI) as the Internet and mobile devices have become ubiquitous.…”