‘VRComponent’: A virtual reality software for neuro-rehabilitation with robotics technologies

Abstract

Autonomous robots that are interfaced with virtual or augmented reality gaming are increasingly being developed to provide repetitive intensive practice to promote increased compliance and facilitate better outcomes in neurorehabilitation therapies. These therapist robots, equipped with a set of sensors and actuators for monitorizing the environment, allows health professionals to supervise the recovery of patients with serious disability. In this paper, a new system for supervising neuro-rehabilitation therapies using autonomous robots is presented. The therapy explained in this work is based on a set of virtual reality games developed by using robotics technologies, such as RGB-D camera and depth image processing. Three different virtual reality games have been developed in the application to gain better outcomes during the therapy, each one focuses on a typical exercise: ‘Touch the apple’, ‘Follow the path’ and ‘Imitate the dance’. Both, the virtual reality games and the main robotics technologies for their development, are explained in this paper.