Action Reproducer: Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System to Reduce Fear of Walking

ABSTRACT

Walking is a daily activity for most people. Lack of opportunities or inability to walk may cause both mental and physical health problems. However, in some circumstances, such as during a global pandemic, fear of heights, or withdrawal from society (hikikomori), people tend to walk less. To overcome such issues, we developed a walking rehabilitation system, Action Reproducer, to encourage people to walk in a virtual environment, e.g., around sightseeing spots, or to train walking on a high building. The proposed system comprised a motion seat to present vestibular sensation to the waist, slider-pedal devices to provide motion sensation to the lower limbs, wearable pseudo force devices to pull sensation to the fingers, and an avatar in the virtual environment to hold the user’s hand during walking. This system can reduce user burden because the user simply sits on the motion seat and perceives multiple sensations that allow them to enjoy walking activities for long periods of time. During the virtual conference, we will conduct a live demonstration and present the details of our system with some interactive content, such as virtual traveling and walk rehabilitation between high buildings.

References

1. Gery Colombo, Matthias Jörg, R Schreier, and Volker Dietz. 2000. Treadmill training of paraplegic patients using a robotic orthosis. Journal of rehabilitation research and development 37 (11 2000), 693–700.
2. Koichi Shimizu, Makoto Sato, Koichi Hirota, Michiteru Kitazaki, Gaku Sueta, Kentaro Yamaoka, Kazuki Sawamura, Yujin Suzuki, Keisuke Yoshida, Vibol Yem, Yasushi Ikei, and Tomohiro Amemiya. 2018. FiveStar VR: shareable travel experience through multisensory stimulation to the whole body. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development 37(6) (12 2018), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1145/3275495.3275502
3. Frank Steinicke, Gerd Bruder, Jason Jerald, Harald Frenz, and Markus Lappe. 2010. Estimation of Detection Thresholds for Redirected Walking Techniques. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics 16 (01 2010), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2009.62
4. Vibol Yem, Ryuta Okazaki, and Hiroyuki Kajimoto. 2016. Vibrotactile and pseudo force presentation using motor rotational acceleration. (04 2016), 47–51. https://doi.org/10.1109/HAPTICS.2016.7463154

Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Computer graphics

    • Graphics systems and interfaces

      • Virtual reality

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

    • Interaction paradigms

      • Mixed / augmented reality

      • Virtual reality