Abstract
Brain injury rehabilitation is a long and difficult process that includes training of so-called instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). This type of training involves activities like preparing meals, doing housework, grocery shopping etc. and it is often used by occupational therapists when they teach brain injury patients how to manage their daily life.
A computer-generated Virtual Environment (VE) that is to be used as a tool in IADL training has been designed. The VE has the shape of a cash dispenser and it can be used by a brain injury patient that wants to practice the activity of withdrawing money. The aim was to design a VE interface that puts as little cognitive load as possible on the brain injury patient, so that he or she can focus completely on the task of withdrawing money. A low-fidelity paper prototype was built and evaluated in order to generate ideas regarding object behaviour, navigation of the viewpoint, interaction with objects and other features. The result of the project so far is a computer prototype built with a Virtual Reality (VR) development kit called WorldUp, a personal computer based VR system. The computer prototype behaves exactly like a real cash dispenser and it has a function that allows the patient to learn his or her banking code. Feedback and clues will be provided by the occupational therapist that sits next to the patient during the training sessions.
At present tests are in progress with voluntary brain injury patients in a usability laboratory. These tests aim to evaluate the virtual cash dispenser in order to get ideas on how to increase its usability. The tests also aim to collect ideas on future functions and features and also to get clues on how VE training can be integrated into the rehabilitation process.
A computer-generated Virtual Environment (VE) that is to be used as a tool in IADL training has been designed. The VE has the shape of a cash dispenser and it can be used by a brain injury patient that wants to practice the activity of withdrawing money. The aim was to design a VE interface that puts as little cognitive load as possible on the brain injury patient, so that he or she can focus completely on the task of withdrawing money. A low-fidelity paper prototype was built and evaluated in order to generate ideas regarding object behaviour, navigation of the viewpoint, interaction with objects and other features. The result of the project so far is a computer prototype built with a Virtual Reality (VR) development kit called WorldUp, a personal computer based VR system. The computer prototype behaves exactly like a real cash dispenser and it has a function that allows the patient to learn his or her banking code. Feedback and clues will be provided by the occupational therapist that sits next to the patient during the training sessions.
At present tests are in progress with voluntary brain injury patients in a usability laboratory. These tests aim to evaluate the virtual cash dispenser in order to get ideas on how to increase its usability. The tests also aim to collect ideas on future functions and features and also to get clues on how VE training can be integrated into the rehabilitation process.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the international conference on computer-aided ergonomics and safety |
| Editors | Waldemar Karwowski, Pedro Mondelo, Diman Bas, Markku Mattila |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Publication status | Published - 2001 |
| Event | The International Conference on Computer-Aided Ergonomics and Safety 2001 - Outriger Wailea Resort, Maui, Hawaii, United States Duration: 2001 Jul 29 → 2001 Aug 1 |
Conference
| Conference | The International Conference on Computer-Aided Ergonomics and Safety 2001 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Outriger Wailea Resort, Maui, Hawaii |
| Period | 2001/07/29 → 2001/08/01 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics