Virtual Environment for Motor and Cognitive Rehabilitation: Towards a Joint Angle and Trajectory Estimation

Abstract

Cognitive and motor development are important issues in patients with special needs, such as Down Syndrome (DS) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The difficulty that individuals with DS and ASD present in the acquisition of motor and cognitive skills has motivated scientists to study and develop means of intervention. The application of technology has improved the traditional way of dealing with therapies, especially with the development of virtual environments. In this sense, serious games can create an immersive environment from recreational resources to assist in rehabilitation and physical and motor training. Motion analysis can be made in a virtual environment through the estimation of joint angles and trajectories. This can help health professionals in a quantitative way to analyze motor and cognitive rehabilitation. This paper aims to show a proposal of virtual environment to be applied in the rehabilitation of motor and cognitive functions of people with special needs. The system consists of a depth camera (RGB-D) and a projection interface for serious games. A protocol of data acquisition based on the tasks performed according to the game is proposed. Preliminary tests with a healthy subject were made. The results are the establishment of the virtual environment: a game was developed that involves motor tasks but also includes cognitive development. Joint angle and trajectory estimation are shown. A comparison which involves the movement and the time of response of the subject performing the task between the trials in the protocol is also made. The proposed technique for joint angle and trajectory estimation demonstrated to be a feasible and straightforward option to obtain kinematics analysis from playful tasks performed in a markerless system.