International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation (ISVR) newsletter - 6th Issue
Find more information at http://www.isvr.org
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Message from the president:
"This month’s newsletter features articles about two different types of virtual rehabilitation applications. The first uses VR as a means for providing feedback during training of pinch grip and hand movement using robotic devices. This work is being done in the Rehabilitation Engineering Lab in the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, by Dr. Roger Gassert and his multidisciplinary team. The projects focus on the development of upper limb training applications using force sensors and robotics combined with visual feedback provided from virtual reality interfaces.
The second describes a new lab recently set up at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, USA, by Danielle Levac. The lab, Rehabilitation Games and Virtual Reality (ReGame-VR) Lab, focuses on the evaluation of knowledge translation about the uptake and effectiveness of different types of VR systems, from those that have been developed specifically for rehabilitation purposes to those that can be adapted from commercially available gaming systems meant for entertainment. In the article, Danielle uses the term ‘active video gaming’ to refer to this type of therapy.
As a Society, it is not only important to communicate advances in virtual reality technology and its effectiveness in rehabilitation, but it is also important to develop effective terminology to communicate clearly between members across all levels of the virtual rehabilitation spectrum. This is not an easy task given the multidisciplinary nature of our membership. Virtual reality interfaces may or may not be set up as games. A virtual reality interface can be used to manipulate the environment in order to study behavior, like avoiding an unexpected obstacle during reaching or walking. When used as an enhanced practice environment, how many features of gaming (game score, game time, etc) need or should be incorporated into the practice environment? Aside from knowledge of success or failure, game-like practice environments need to contain feedback to the user in order to improve a movement or function. Determining what type and how much feedback is needed, is an area of active investigation. The question arises, should video gaming without feedback be considered as therapy? We are interested in your opinions and plans are underway to set up a task force of expert researchers, clinicians and industry representatives to provide guidelines about terminology and use of different types of VR.
The newsletter also highlights two new technologies under development. ReHapTix is developing a computer-based application to assess how well figures are traced on a tablet. This can be administered remotely and scored objectively. Kinestica has developed a new video-game based application using a 3 degree-of-freedom force sensor and other sensors. The system, targeting upper limb rehabilitation is called Bimeo, since it incorporates bimanual training activities.
In terms of activities of the Society, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to submit papers and attend the International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies (ICDVRAT), to be held September 20-22 in Los Angeles, California. For futher information please see page 9 of the newsletter.
Wishing you and all of yours a happy and peaceful holiday season!
Mindy Levin President, ISVR"
Message from the president:
"This month’s newsletter features articles about two different types of virtual rehabilitation applications. The first uses VR as a means for providing feedback during training of pinch grip and hand movement using robotic devices. This work is being done in the Rehabilitation Engineering Lab in the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, by Dr. Roger Gassert and his multidisciplinary team. The projects focus on the development of upper limb training applications using force sensors and robotics combined with visual feedback provided from virtual reality interfaces.
The second describes a new lab recently set up at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, USA, by Danielle Levac. The lab, Rehabilitation Games and Virtual Reality (ReGame-VR) Lab, focuses on the evaluation of knowledge translation about the uptake and effectiveness of different types of VR systems, from those that have been developed specifically for rehabilitation purposes to those that can be adapted from commercially available gaming systems meant for entertainment. In the article, Danielle uses the term ‘active video gaming’ to refer to this type of therapy.
As a Society, it is not only important to communicate advances in virtual reality technology and its effectiveness in rehabilitation, but it is also important to develop effective terminology to communicate clearly between members across all levels of the virtual rehabilitation spectrum. This is not an easy task given the multidisciplinary nature of our membership. Virtual reality interfaces may or may not be set up as games. A virtual reality interface can be used to manipulate the environment in order to study behavior, like avoiding an unexpected obstacle during reaching or walking. When used as an enhanced practice environment, how many features of gaming (game score, game time, etc) need or should be incorporated into the practice environment? Aside from knowledge of success or failure, game-like practice environments need to contain feedback to the user in order to improve a movement or function. Determining what type and how much feedback is needed, is an area of active investigation. The question arises, should video gaming without feedback be considered as therapy? We are interested in your opinions and plans are underway to set up a task force of expert researchers, clinicians and industry representatives to provide guidelines about terminology and use of different types of VR.
The newsletter also highlights two new technologies under development. ReHapTix is developing a computer-based application to assess how well figures are traced on a tablet. This can be administered remotely and scored objectively. Kinestica has developed a new video-game based application using a 3 degree-of-freedom force sensor and other sensors. The system, targeting upper limb rehabilitation is called Bimeo, since it incorporates bimanual training activities.
In terms of activities of the Society, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to submit papers and attend the International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies (ICDVRAT), to be held September 20-22 in Los Angeles, California. For futher information please see page 9 of the newsletter.
Wishing you and all of yours a happy and peaceful holiday season!
Mindy Levin President, ISVR"
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Virtual reality Canada