Investigating a Virtual Reality Solution for Rehabilitation in a Biomechatronics Lab and Home Environment
Master thesis
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2682565Utgivelsesdato
2020Metadata
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Originalversjon
Madshaven, J. M. & Markseth, T. F. (2020) Investigating a Virtual Reality Solution for Rehabilitation in a Biomechatronics Lab and Home Environment (Master's thesis). University of Agder, GrimstadSammendrag
Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising technical tool in physical rehabilitation. VR rehabilitation (VRR) programs, like any rehabilitation, attempt to promote neuroplasticity to improve physical rehabilitation. Research indicates that VRR is beneficial; it facilitates task-specific training, multi-sensory feedback, and diversifying rehabilitation tasks, which can motivate patients. This master thesis investigates a VR solution for a biomechatronics lab and a home-based system. This project was partially a collaboration between masterstudents at Mechatronics and Multimedia and Educational Technology. The Mechatronics team developed a biomechatronics lab, which consists of a 6 degrees of freedom motion platform fitted with a treadmill with an integrated force plate sensors for data gathering and VR character control. Our team developed a VR solution for the biomechatronics lab and developed a home-based system using VR and a Nintendo Wii Balance Board. User tests were conducted with healthy individuals to explore if the solutions are usable and to investigate if VRR has any side-effects. Our findings indicate that VRR in the biomechatronics lab and home environment is usable, but we suggest further testing to verify these findings.
Beskrivelse
Master's thesis in Multimedia and educational technology (MM500)