scholarly journals Multipurpose virtual reality environment for biomedical and health applications

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Torner ◽  
Stavros Skouras ◽  
José L. Molinuevo ◽  
Juan D. Gispert ◽  
Francisco Alpiste
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Motor Rehabilitation ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Index Terms ◽  
Test Usage ◽  
Health Applications

AbstractVirtual reality is a trending, widely accessible, contemporary technology of increasing utility to biomedical and health applications. However, most implementations of VR environments are tailored to specific applications. We describe the complete development of a novel, open-source virtual reality environment that is suitable for multipurpose biomedical and healthcare applications. The developed environment simulates an immersive (first-person perspective) run in the countryside, in a virtual landscape with various salient features. The utility of the developed VR environment has been validated via two test usage cases: an application in the context of motor rehabilitation following injury of the lower limbs and an application in the context of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback, to regulate brain function in specific regions of interest. The resulting test applications suggest that the implemented approach is robust, versatile and efficient. Both applications are publicly available via a GitHub repository, in support of the Open Science initiative. We anticipate our contribution to catalyze further progress and replicability with regards to the usage of virtual reality in biomedical and health applications.Index Terms— Motor rehabilitation, neurofeedback, virtual reality.

scholarly journals Flexible Virtual Reality System for Neurorehabilitation and Quality of Life Improvement

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 6045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulia-Cristina Stanica ◽  
Florica Moldoveanu ◽  
Giovanni-Paul Portelli ◽  
Maria-Iuliana Dascalu ◽  
Alin Moldoveanu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Joint Range Of Motion ◽  
Training Plan ◽  
Physical Functions ◽  
Life Improvement ◽  
Joint Range

As life expectancy is mostly increasing, the incidence of many neurological disorders is also constantly growing. For improving the physical functions affected by a neurological disorder, rehabilitation procedures are mandatory, and they must be performed regularly. Unfortunately, neurorehabilitation procedures have disadvantages in terms of costs, accessibility and a lack of therapists. This paper presents Immersive Neurorehabilitation Exercises Using Virtual Reality (INREX-VR), our innovative immersive neurorehabilitation system using virtual reality. The system is based on a thorough research methodology and is able to capture real-time user movements and evaluate joint mobility for both upper and lower limbs, record training sessions and save electromyography data. The use of the first-person perspective increases immersion, and the joint range of motion is calculated with the help of both the HTC Vive system and inverse kinematics principles applied on skeleton rigs. Tutorial exercises are demonstrated by a virtual therapist, as they were recorded with real-life physicians, and sessions can be monitored and configured through tele-medicine. Complex movements are practiced in gamified settings, encouraging self-improvement and competition. Finally, we proposed a training plan and preliminary tests which show promising results in terms of accuracy and user feedback. As future developments, we plan to improve the system’s accuracy and investigate a wireless alternative based on neural networks.

scholarly journals Use of a Remote Eye-Tracker for the Analysis of Gaze during Treadmill Walking and Visual Stimuli Exposition

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Serchi ◽  
A. Peruzzi ◽  
A. Cereatti ◽  
U. Della Croce
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Treadmill Walking ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Data Loss ◽  
Motor Rehabilitation ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Experimental Conditions

The knowledge of the visual strategies adopted while walking in cognitively engaging environments is extremely valuable. Analyzing gaze when a treadmill and a virtual reality environment are used as motor rehabilitation tools is therefore critical. Being completely unobtrusive, remote eye-trackers are the most appropriate way to measure the point of gaze. Still, the point of gaze measurements are affected by experimental conditions such as head range of motion and visual stimuli. This study assesses the usability limits and measurement reliability of a remote eye-tracker during treadmill walking while visual stimuli are projected. During treadmill walking, the head remained within the remote eye-tracker workspace. Generally, the quality of the point of gaze measurements declined as the distance from the remote eye-tracker increased and data loss occurred for large gaze angles. The stimulus location (a dot-target) did not influence the point of gaze accuracy, precision, and trackability during both standing and walking. Similar results were obtained when the dot-target was replaced by a static or moving 2D target and “region of interest” analysis was applied. These findings foster the feasibility of the use of a remote eye-tracker for the analysis of gaze during treadmill walking in virtual reality environments.

scholarly journals Multipurpose Virtual Reality Environment for Biomedical and Health Applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1511-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Torner ◽  
Stavros Skouras ◽  
Jose L. Molinuevo ◽  
Juan D. Gispert ◽  
Francisco Alpiste
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Health Applications

Top-Down Processing and Visual Reorientation Illusions in a Virtual Reality Environment

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Mast ◽  
Charles M. Oman
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Line Length ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.

DEFORMATION OF B-SPLINE BASED PLASTICINE MATERIAL MODEL IN VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENT

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
GANDOTRA SANDEEP ◽  
Pungotra Harish ◽  
Moudgil Prince Kumar ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Material Model ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
B Spline
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