Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Similar Virtual Reality Games Elicit Different Challenges for Balance Training Background: Age-related decreases in postural control and muscle strength have been identified as major risk factors for falls and can be improved with training. Virtual Reality (VR) balance training may have advantages over regular exercise training. However, the available studies on the effect of VR balance training have yielded conflicting results. Explanations for this inconsistency might be that commercially available games have not been optimized to improve balance in older adults and that movements made during the game depend on the controllers used to play the games. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the balance challenge and level of difficulty of two similar skiing games played on different gaming systems. Methods: Eight young participants performed three trials of two skiing games: Kinect Sports Season 2 and Wii Fit on the Wii Balance board, where the Wii balance board is a simple force plate and the Kinect sensor an infrared depth sensing camera that creates a 3D image of the body. The functional limits of stability were determined in a task in which they are asked to move a dot on the screen, representing their COM, as far as possible in 8 different directions. 3D marker data were obtained with 6 opto-electronic cameras at a sample frequency of 100Hz. Body center of mass was calculated based on a 45 markers, 15 segments model. The influence of the games and trials on the maximal COM displacement in each of the 8 directions was tested with a repeated measures MANOVA. Results: Subjects showed significantly bigger maximal COM displacements in right (0.071m, p<0.05), left (0.066m, p<0.05), and anterior-left direction (0.028m, p<0.05) and reached closer to their limits of stability during the Kinect Sports Season 2 game compared to the Wii Fit game (figure 1). Furthermore, from the first to the third trial, in both games, significant reductions in maximal reach were found in anterior-right (0.014m, p<0.05), left (0.028m, p<0.05) and anterior-left direction (0.026, p<0.05), indicating a learning effect. Conclusions: These data show that VR-games that look similar at first sight elicit different movements, bringing the subjects more or less close to the limits of stability and can thus be more or less suitable as a balance training tool. The different movement patterns observed during a similar skiing task indicate that apart from the task, the movement sensors used in the game (COP versus full body tracking) as well as their gain settings have an important impact on the movements performed. Also results indicate that subjects quickly become more efficient, which might limit the effectiveness of the game as a balance training tool. The results show the importance of documenting the actual movement performance elicited by VR- interventions, to develop effective balance games.
Source: Lirias
Institution: KU Leuven
Language: English
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2560922857