Future Trends in Exergaming using MS Kinect for Medical Rehabilitation

Abstract

The physical rehabilitation games characterized by natural user interfaces expressed by 3D motion capture sensors are in continuous development. Using these exergames the physician can access useful information about the patient rehabilitation process through the metrics such as angle of inclination of the neck, arm, forearm, trunk, posture, pushing force at the foot, etc. A physical rehabilitation system based on a computer game that uses the Kinect platform is presented in this paper. The system was developed by a research team from University of Suceava, Romania in collaboration with a research team from ISCTE Lisbon, Portugal. The exergame is designed and implemented for upper limb rehabilitation. The user's avatar passes through an orchard with apples and has to picks up the red or green apples according to their level. Our study presents that the exergames are a novel and useful tools in physical rehabilitation because people with motor impairments, may accept the training based on serious games with less reluctance considering the advantage of training in their homes.