Researchers have combined Virtual
Reality (VR) and 3D motion capture technology which could help physiotherapy
patients to complete their exercises at home. Currently, prescribed
physiotherapy is often undertaken at home and patients rarely receive any
guidance other than a leaflet of sketches or static photographs to instruct
them how to complete their exercises. This leads to poor adherence, with
patients becoming anxious about not getting the exercise right. The combination
of virtual reality technology combined, and 3D motion capture allows real
movements to be accurately translated onto an avatar that can be viewed in a
virtual environment. The researchers at the Institute of Digital Healthcare,
University of Warwick are investigating whether this technology can be used to
provide guidance to physiotherapy patients, by providing a virtual
physiotherapist in the home to demonstrate exercises.
For the study, the researchers
investigated whether people were able to accurately co-ordinate and follow the
movements of an avatar in a virtual environment, asking participants to step in
time with an avatar viewed through a VR headset. The researchers slowed down or
speeded up one of the avatar’s steps, such that the participants would have to
correct their own stepping movement to stay in time. The team measured whether
this influenced the participants timing. They found that participants struggled
to keep in time if only visual information was present. However, when they
added realistic footstep sounds in addition to the visual information, the more
realistic multisensory information allowed participants to accurately follow
the avatar. Now researchers plan to investigate other types of movements
working closely in partnership with physiotherapists, to establish the areas of
physiotherapy that will benefit most from this technology.
More information: