Development of Immersive Virtual Reality Interface for Lower-Limb Robotic Rehabilitation

Abstract

This paper proposes an immersive virtual reality (VR) interface in a solution to aid patients who suffered spinal cord injury (SCI) in the lower-limb rehabilitation process. In the process, it is considered that a rehabilitation robot is also aiding the patient to move the legs. The user controls a full body humanoid avatar from a first person perspective. Among the advantages of using a virtual environment are that it is easier to modify it than a real environment and it is possible to choose how the user can interact with this virtual environment. The methodology and the results demonstrate how the proposed interface works and its limitations in the current state. It is also proposed as future work forms of interaction in VR and gamification to give a goal to the walking, motivate engagement and make the patient feel rewarded in the process.