Design approach of simulation exercise with use of device and its significance design of novel device for realistic experience of being a hemiplegia patient

Abstract

This paper addresses design approach of simulation exercise with use of tool to encourage an able-bodied person to understand the situations of a patient suffering from loss of perceptual function and motor function due to brain damage from perspective of human-human communication enhancement. The author considers that a traditional hemiplegia simulation suit provides an experience different from actual experience that a patient has, and has focused on the variance between bodily actions in thinking and feeling and bodily actions in physical situation in order to generate much more realistic experience of being a patient. This paper describes two simulation devices based on this approach: a hemiplegic-gait simulation device and a strange-depth-feeling device, and also discussion of the significance of such simulation exercise and the development of user's ability to understand the situations of a patient. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.