Rehabilitation

Immersive Virtual Reality Applications for Post-Stroke Motor Rehabilitation
Immersive Virtual Reality Applications for Post-Stroke Motor Rehabilitation using Inertial Motive Suit and Oculus Rift by Mitchell Just
ECTE458 Thesis
November 2013
School of Electrical, Computer & Telecommunications Engineering (SECTE) at the University of Wollongong (UOW)

ABSTRACT
Stroke affects a significant number of people, often leaving victims with significant motor
impairment. Recent research has indicated that there is room for major improvement in the area
of motor rehabilitation through the use of Virtual Reality systems.
A virtual-reality application is capable of providing patients with a more stimulating exercise
system, which has been proven to increase a patient’s motivation. This is achieved through
higher levels of immersion, and the possibility of clear indications of their rehabilitation
progression, through automatic, objective applications of industry standard testing methods.
Recent innovations in the field of Virtual Reality have made creating a low-cost, easy-to-use
system possible. This thesis will provide the framework for future work, and produce a number
of sample applications to demonstrate the ability of the system to improve traditional
rehabilitation and testing methods.
The framework will link both the Xsens MVN Biomech Inertial Motion Capture suit and the
Oculus Rift VR Headset to the Unity development engine. This will allow the rapid and easy
development of games which simulate traditional exercises with a more stimulating environment.