“Action Reproducer: Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System to Reduce Fear of Walking” by Unno, Kikuchi, Yamaoka, Sueta, Yem, et al. …
Conference:
- SIGGRAPH 2021
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More from SIGGRAPH 2021:
Title:
- Action Reproducer: Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System to Reduce Fear of Walking
Presenter(s):
Description:
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.
Acknowledgements:
This work was partially supported by the MIC/SCOPE #191603003, JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19K20325, 18H04118 and 18H03283
