Wearable Device for Immersive Virtual Reality Control and Application in Upper Limbs Motor Rehabilitation

Virtual Reality (VR) has been used in several areas such as video games, technical training, movies and teaching. VR-based interventions have also been applied for motor rehabilitation, e.g., to help the patient recovery from disabilities provoked by stroke, cognitive deficit or musculoskeletal problem. VR combined with wearable tracking devices creates new possibilities to apply immersive approaches during motor rehabilitation. This can enhance the health care making it more interesting and pleasant for patients as well as more effective for physicians and physiotherapists. However, the costs related to this technology may be impracticable for a wide application by public health system. Therefore, this paper introduces preliminary results for a low-cost wearable device, which is integrated to VR environments aiming to provide a better quality rehabilitation process for most patient with motor disabilities.