A Feasibility Study on Using Low-Cost Gaming Devices for Rehabilitation

Telerehabilitation has become a reality with the advances of communication and sensing technologies. The past decade has seen much research work done in rehabilitation using sophisticated devices and complex computations. A recent research trend has emerged with the proliferation of gaming devices and sensors. This work investigates rehabilitation of wrist and arm using the affordable Nintendo Wii Remote controller with an USB-equipped personal computer. Other gaming devices such as Microsoft's Kinect are discussed. The impact of positional displacement of the controller is examined. The sensitive of the controller with respect to prescribed motions is studied. Extensive experiments performed with various controllers, motions, and people are discussed. Conclusions are drawn on the suitability of using the Wii Remote controller in rehabilitation.