Proof of Concept: VR Rehabilitation Game for People with Shoulder Disorders

Shoulder pain is very common in adult population (16%–26%) and it has several impacts on the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). In this context, an effective rehabilitation is needed to assist the patients to regain autonomy and improve ADLs. An alternative approach to monotonous traditional rehabilitation can be offered by Virtual Reality (VR) technology and video game console systems. In this paper, we present a proof of concept of a computer game for shoulder rehabilitation. The system consists in a VR application developed with the Unity game engine, and it is currently controlled via mouse interactions; however, the software application has been designed for the Nintendo Wii Remote MotionPlus as the main game controller, but this tool will be integrated in the next development phase. Our goal is to develop a rehabilitation game: suitable to be used both at home and at a hospital, highly motivating for the patient, and requiring low-cost technology (e.g. a consumer-grade tracking system). The game has been tested preliminary with three healthy subjects who agreed that the application is engaging, motivating and intuitive