3DVR + haptics help rehabilitate stroke patients

Recovering stroke patients at the University of Southern California are getting rehabilitated virtual reality-style via the combination of 3D visualization and haptics. Software environments are designed to challenge patients with "cyber tasks" such as grasping, pinching, squeezing, throwing and pushing, depending on the impairment. Patients don various input devices such as the "cyber grasp" exoskeleton, which measures input and delivers force-feedback to the patient. Users can "feel" the sensation of the virtual objects they pick up and manipulate, and researchers can tweak the software accordingly to modify challenge levels over time as patients improve. Awesome — Nintendo, you listening?

[Charles Dunham @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Can anyone explain to me why this is better than doing the same thing in a non-virtual environment?

[Matthew Zulawski @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

There must be danger involved in dropping real-world foam blocks that we are not aware of.

[eeka @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I think it's a similar principle to biofeedback. It tells the person that they're exerting more or less pressure than they did the last time, so then their brain connects that, oh, when I loosen my wrist a little, my pincer grasp is firmer. When a person works with an occupational therapist doing these tasks, the OT wouldn't be able to tell that by moving the wrist 1mm higher, the person is getting .003 more ounces of pressure exerted, because the OT just can't see or feel these small changes. Of course, the computer also has limitations, because it's not going to be able to see and feel the movements and tell the person that a different way could be more efficient or could avoid injury, or even just smile and tell them that their last throw or catch or grab was awesome. So you still need the OT or PT or SLP or whoever to work with the person in person. But this device assesses some aspects of their movements better than a human can.

[Rocket Punch @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

So, thats that what the Revolution controller looks like.