(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-08)
García-Vergara, Sergio; Li, Hongfei; Howard, Ayanna M.
During physical therapy intervention protocols, it's important to consider the individual's intrinsic motivation to perform in-home recommended exercises. Physical therapy exercises can become tedious thus limiting the individual's progress. Not only have researchers developed serious gaming systems to increase user motivation, but they have
also worked on the design aesthetics since results have shown positive
effects on the users' performance for attractive models. As such, we improved the aesthetics of a previously developed serious game called Super
Pop VR™. Namely, we improved the game graphics, added new game
features, and allowed for more game options to provide users the opportunity to tailor their own experience. The conducted user studies show that participants rank the version of the game with the improved aesthetics higher in terms of the amount of interest/enjoyment it generates, thus allowing for an increase in intrinsic motivation when interacting
with the system.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-06)
García-Vergara, Sergio; Howard, Ayanna M.
Virtual reality serious game platforms have been developed to enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation protocols for those with motor skill disorders. Such systems increase the user’s motivation to perform the recommended in-home therapy exercises, but typically don’t incorporate an objective method for assessing the user’s outcome metrics. We expand on the commonly used human modeling method, Fitt’s law, used to predict the amount of time needed to complete a task, and apply it as an assessment method for virtual environments. During game-play, we compare the user’s movement time to the predicted value as a means for assessing the individual’s kinematic performance. Taking into consideration the structure of virtual gaming environments, we expand the nominal Fitt’s model to one that makes accurate time predictions for three-dimensional movements. Results show that the three-dimensional refinement made to the Fitt’s model makes better predictions when interacting with virtual gaming platforms than its two-dimensional counterpart.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-01)
García-Vergara, Sergio; Brown, LaVonda; Park, Hae Won; Howard, Ayanna M.
Individuals who have impairments in their motor skills typically engage in rehabilitation protocols to improve the recovery of their motor functions. In general, engaging in physical therapy can be tedious and difficult, which can result in demotivating the individual. This is especially true for children who are more susceptible to frustration. Thus, different virtual reality environments and play therapy systems have been developed with the goal of increasing the motivation of individuals engaged in physical therapy. However, although previously developed systems have proven to be effective for the general population, the majority of these systems are not focused on engaging children. Given this motivation, we discuss two technologies that have been shown to positively engage children who are undergoing physical therapy. The first is called the Super Pop VR™ game; a virtual reality environment that not only increases the child’s motivation to continue with his/her therapy exercises, but also provides feedback and tracking of patient performance during game play. The second technology integrates robotics into the virtual gaming scenario through social engagement in order to further maintain the child’s attention when engaged with the system. Results from preliminary studies with typically-developing children have shown their effectiveness. In this chapter, we discuss the functions and advantages of these technologies, and their potential for being integrated into the child’s intervention protocol.