VR Neurorehabilitation

With funding from ResearchNS, we are developing low-cost virtual reality neurorehabilitation treatments that can be completed at home. Impaired movements will be artificially improved in the virtual environment to make treatment less frustrating, more individualized, and accessible to patients with more severe disability. The work will also assess how different psychological aspects associated with the virtual reality experience may be manipulated to make the therapy more engaging and effective. With the portability and affordability of the resulting treatment, we aim to increase access to post-stroke therapy for home-bound patients, long-term care residents, rural patients, and those that cannot afford ongoing physiotherapy consultations.

Project collaborators:

Dr. Anne Sophie Champod

Acadia University

Dr. Betsy Sanders

Rhodes College

Kyla Harris, NP

Valley Regional Hospital (Kentville, NS)

Related work:

Vyakhirev, D., Parsons, K., Tsao, J., Williams (Sanders), B., & Blustein, D. 2019. Evaluation of Low Cost Embodiment with Virtual Avatars. ACM Symposium on Applied Perception. Barcelona (poster).