Immersive Virtual Reality for the Cognitive Rehabilitation of Stroke Survivors.

We present the results of a double-blind phase 2b randomized control trial that used a custom built virtual reality environment for the cognitive rehabilitation of stroke survivors. A stroke causes damage to the brain and problem solving, memory and task sequencing are commonly affected. The brain can recover to some extent, however, and stroke patients have to relearn how to carry out activities of daily living. We have created an application called VIRTUE to enable such activities to be practiced using immersive virtual reality. Gamification techniques enhance the motivation of patients such as by making the level of difficulty of a task increase over time. The design and implementation of VIRTUE is described together with the results of the trial conducted within the Stroke Unit of a large hospital. We report on the safety and acceptability of VIRTUE. We have also observed particular benefits of VR treatment for stroke survivors that experienced more severe cognitive impairment, and an encouraging reduction in time spent in the hospital for all patients that received the VR treatment.

Woman's best friend?

Dog bites are commonly thought to be less infectious than similar injuries from other domestic or wild animals. Many people who are bitten by a dog treat themselves at home or go to a medical site to have their wounds simply "cleaned and watched." This report describes a serious delayed consequence of a dog bite that was missed by common bacteriological testing.

The Implementation and Validation of a Virtual Environment for Training Powered Wheelchair Manoeuvres.

Navigating a powered wheelchair and avoiding collisions is often a daunting task for new wheelchair users. It takes time and practice to gain the coordination needed to become a competent driver and this can be even more of a challenge for someone with a disability. We present a cost-effective virtual reality (VR) application that takes advantage of consumer level VR hardware. The system can be easily deployed in an assessment centre or for home use, and does not depend on a specialized high-end virtual environment such as a Powerwall or CAVE. This paper reviews previous work that has used virtual environments technology for training tasks, particularly wheelchair simulation. We then describe the implementation of our own system and the first validation study carried out using thirty three able bodied volunteers. The study results indicate that at a significance level of 5 percent then there is an improvement in driving skills from the use of our VR system. We thus have the potential to develop the competency of a wheelchair user whilst avoiding the risks inherent to training in the real world. However, the occurrence of cybersickness is a particular problem in this application that will need to be addressed.