Visualization of virtual reality neurological motor rehabilitation of the upper limb — A systematic review

Abstract

Most virtual rehabilitation environments rely on visual feedback. However, little is known on the optimum characteristics of these feedbacks. Here, we present first results of a systematic literature review to assess and compare visual feedback types in virtual reality (VR) based neurological motor rehabilitation of the upper limb. Overall we identified 104 relevant publications. Within these some applied multiple visual feedback types. We found six main visualization groups: Avatar Feedback (N= 52), Augmented Reality Feedback (N= 16), Abstract Feedback (N= 40), Tracking Feedback (N= 13), Performance Evaluation Feedback (N= 2), and Combined Feedback (N= 7). However, there is insufficient evidence for the choice of a specific visual feedback in relation to motor outcome. Thus, further research is necessary.

Skyfarer: Design Case Study of a Mixed Reality Rehabilitation Video Game

“…MR has been recently used for rehabilitation in individuals with spinal cord injury [13,14]. Many challenges exist in the design of compelling and effective user experiences with MR because evidence for correlating user experience outcomes, with design principles of multimodal feedback and clinical outcomes is sparse and heterogeneous [9,13,[15][16][17].…”

Inclusive AR/VR: accessibility barriers for immersive technologies

“…A range of research studies have illustrated the potential benefits AR/VR software and novel hardware systems can have for disabled users. For users with physical impairments, research has explored applications supporting rehabilitation [20,21,22,23], physiotherapy [24], biomechanical movement [25] and for stabilising physical involuntary motion (i.e. hand tremors) [26].…”