Academic literature on the topic 'Exer-game'

Motor rehabilitation exercises require recurrent repetitions to enhance patients’ gestures. However, these repetitive gestures usually decrease the patients’ motivation and stress them. Virtual Reality (VR) exer-games (serious games in general) could be an alternative solution to address the problem. This innovative technology encourages patients to train different gestures with less effort since they are totally immersed in an easy to play exer-game. Despite this evolution, patients, with available exer-games, still suffer in performing their gestures correctly without pain. The developed applications do not consider the patients psychological states when playing an exer-game. Therefore, we believe that is necessary to develop personalized and adaptive exer-games that take into consideration the patients’ emotions during rehabilitation exercises. This paper proposed a VR-PEER adaptive exer-game system based on emotion recognition. The platform contain three main modules: (1) computing and interpretation module, (2) emotion recognition module, (3) adaptation module. Furthermore, a virtual reality-based serious game is developed as a case study, that uses updated facial expression data and provides dynamically the patient’s appropriate game to play during rehabilitation exercises. An experimental study has been conducted on fifteen subjects who expressed the usefulness of the proposed system in motor rehabilitation process.

The study presented here concerns the results obtained from the development and the experimentation of a didactic exergame realized by the University of Salerno. The aim of this exergame, called “Gioco delle Forme”, is to evaluate, measure and “train”, by means of a playful activity with a high degree of body involvement, the skills of visual and motor integration, skills that for scientific literature are strictly linked to learning processes and considered very important in recent pedagogic debate as concerns the visual and spatial component present in specific learning difficulties. The focus of the study is on the design and development of an exer-game essentially based on manipulation of shapes involving the whole body, fundamental aspect both for the assessment of visual-motor integration skills or for the emotional participation of the user because “motor activity – not representationalist verisimilitude - holds the key to fluid and functional crossings between virtual and physical realms”(Hansen, 2006, p.2); this activity can also be considered as a preparatory skill for the spatial acquisition of concepts like geometrical forms, graphemes, etc. The exer-game is based on the following skills: grabbing, turning, shifting geometrical forms to make them matching with figures on screen.

The HapHop-Physio exer-learning game is a cognitive rehabilitation solution for children with learning disorders to train memory and attention functions. Therefore, HapHop-Physio must be assessed as an appropriate tool developed to support the enhancement of essential cognitive skills. In this paper, we aim to establish the validity of HapHop-Physio in a healthcare setting with children receiving training with this tool. HapHop-Physio was developed through interaction between clinical experts, one graphic designer, and game developers. Following an assessment framework for serious games in healthcare, the game’s rationale, functionality, validity, and data safety are described. Particularly, the validity was assessed with experts through a case study conducted in three phases with 12 children diagnosed with Specific Learning Disorders. The baseline of the cognitive profile of the children was obtained and trained with HapHop-Physio. General trends and findings were obtained through an exploratory analysis of the gathered results from the phases. The validity aspects were achieved through continuous feedback from the experts, allowing to improve the game in five features: game structure, scoring system, avatars, login system, and clinicians’ dashboard. The application of the assessment framework in HapHop-Physio guarantees end users that the game is safe and effective enough to be used for supporting memory and attention training. One relevant finding from the case study was that cognitive performance improved in 11 out of 12 children at the end of the training. The positive outcomes of this assessment indicate the game’s appropriateness for a healthcare setting. However, the improvement in cognitive performance cannot be associated with HapHop-Physio in this case study. Consequently, it needs to be evaluated in a controlled experiment (including a control group) to ensure that it leads to cognitive rehabilitation in reality.

Demographic changes associated with an expanding and aging population will lead to an increasing number of orthopedic surgeries, such as joint replacements. To support patients’ home exercise programs after total hip replacement and completing subsequent inpatient rehabilitation, a low-cost, smartphone-based augmented reality training game (TG) was developed. To evaluate its motion detection accuracy, data from 30 healthy participants were recorded while using the TG. A 3D motion analysis system served as reference. The TG showed differences of 18.03 mm to 24.98 mm along the anatomical axes. Surveying the main movement direction of the implemented exercises (squats, step-ups, side-steps), differences between 10.13 mm to 24.59 mm were measured. In summary, the accuracy of the TG’s motion detection is sufficient for use in exergames and to quantify progress in patients’ performance. Considering the findings of this study, the presented exer-game approach has potential as a low-cost, easily accessible support for patients in their home exercise program.

Con l'aumento dell'aspettativa di vita, stiamo assistendo a un continuo invecchiamento della popolazione e, di conseguenza, a un aumento delle patologie legate all'età. Anche per questo motivo, i costi della sanità e della riabilitazione sono in continuo aumento, costringendo le strutture ospedaliere a ridurre la durata della degenza, precludendo ai pazienti la possibilità di ricevere cure adeguate e potenzialmente perdendo le capacità motorie acquisite fino a quel momento. Per cercare di mitigare questo problema, la riabilitazione domiciliare autonoma ha recentemente iniziato a diffondersi, permettendo ai pazienti di esercitarsi in modo indipendente, riducendo il carico di lavoro e i costi per ospedali e cliniche. Tuttavia, a causa dell'assenza del terapeuta, sorgono diverse questioni relative all'efficacia della riabilitazione e alla sicurezza del paziente. Lo scopo di questa ricerca è di esplorare gli aspetti critici legati alla riabilitazione autonoma e alle piattaforme recentemente proposte in letteratura, e di sviluppare un sistema esaustivo che permetta ai pazienti di sottoporsi alla riabilitazione in modo sicuro ed efficace in piena autonomia. Nel progetto qui presentato, particolare attenzione è stata posta alla motivazione a lungo termine del paziente, con la realizzazione di exer-games, ossia esercizio fisico attraverso i videogiochi, e altre tecniche di game design, come l'adattamento dinamico della difficoltà. E' disponibile anche una piattaforma dedicata ai terapisti, che fornisce loro tutti gli strumenti necessari per gestire i pazienti, come la possibilità di programmare esercizi personalizzati e di rivedere gli esercizi eseguiti. Abbiamo inoltre esplorato come le nuove tecnologie di realtà mista possano essere utilizzate in riabilitazione e integrate nelle piattaforme di riabilitazione domiciliare. Concludiamo con i risultati preliminari di due studi pilota ai quali hanno partecipato 13 pazienti affetti da sclerosi multipla e 24 anziani sani. Questi test hanno dimostrato la bontà e l'usabilità della piattaforma, ma anche la necessità di ulteriori studi con un numero maggiore di pazienti per convalidare le soluzioni proposte e la loro efficacia a lungo termine.
As life expectancy increases, we are witnessing continuous aging of the population and consequently an increase in age-related diseases. Also for this reason, the costs of health care and rehabilitation continue to rise, forcing hospital facilities to reduce the period of hospitalization, preventing patients from receiving proper treatment and potentially losing the motor skills acquired so far. To try to mitigate this problem, autonomous home rehabilitation has recently begun to spread, allowing patients to practice independently, reducing the workload and costs for hospitals and clinics. However, due to the absence of the therapist, several issues arise regarding the effectiveness of rehabilitation and patient safety. The aim of this research is to explore the critical aspects related to autonomous home rehabilitation and the recently proposed state-of-the-art platforms, and to develop a comprehensive system that allows patients to perform rehabilitation safely and effectively in full autonomy. In the project presented here, particular attention has been paid to the long-term motivation of the patient, with the implementation of exer-games, i.e., exercise through video-games, and other game design techniques, such as the dynamic adjustment of the difficulty. A platform dedicated to therapists is available, giving them all the tools they need to manage their patients, such as the possibility to schedule customized exercises and review the exercises performed. In addition, we have also explored how new mixed reality technologies could be used in rehabilitation and integrated into home rehabilitation platforms. We conclude with the preliminary results of two pilot studies in which 13 patients affected by multiple sclerosis and 24 healthy elderly participated. These tests have demonstrated the goodness and usability of the platform developed, but also the need for further trials with a larger number of patients to validate the proposed solutions and their long-term effectiveness.