A Virtual Reality Serious Game for Hand Rehabilitation Therapy

Abstract

The human hand is the body part most frequently injured in occupational accidents, accounting for one out of five emergency cases and often requiring surgery with subsequently long periods of rehabilitation. This paper proposes a Virtual Reality game to improve conventional physiotherapy in hand rehabilitation, focusing on resolving recurring limitations reported in most technological solutions to the problem, namely the limited diversity support of movements and exercises, complicated calibrations and exclusion of patients with open wounds or other disfigurements of the hand. The system was assessed by seven able-bodied participants using a semistructured interview targeting three evaluation categories: hardware usability, software usability and suggestions for improvement. A System Usability Score (SUS) of 84.3 and participants' disposition to play the game confirm the potential of both the conceptual and technological approaches taken for the improvement of hand rehabilitation therapy.