Virtual Reality (VR) technology has existed for over thirty years, but in the recent years it gained popularity in various sectors. The dominant VR market is the entertainment world in particular gaming. However, due to its advantages, in particular in enhancing the visualisation experience of the user, VR is being applied in manufacturing, architecture and healthcare. Regarding the latter sector, VR is being exploited for surgical intervention training and rehabilitation. Irrespective of the application, a device, similar to the Playstation console, is required to enable users to play a ‘serious’ game in an interactive and immersive VR environment.
The primary purpose of a serious game goes beyond pure entertainment, such as for a rehabilitation purpose. However, most VR-based applications use an off-the-shelf device, which for a certain category of end users with limited hand and finger dexterity, may not be sufficiently comfortable to use.
Within this context, the EU-funded research innovation action project titled ‘Personalised recovery through a multi-user environment: Virtual Reality for rehabilitation’ (PRIME-VR2) involves the creation of an end-to-end integrated digital development platform to produce effective VR rehabilitation at home and in the clinic through a virtual gaming experience. PRIME-VR2 aims to provide rehabilitation for three target user patients with upper body motor impairments, owing to stroke, sports injuries or dystonia, by delivering a platform that integrates a bespoke VR controller to be used in conjunction with a serious game in a VR environment. This state-of-art digital environment for VR rehabilitation will enable patients to socialise, play and monitor progress.
A delegation from the University of Malta attended the last consortium meeting of PRIME-VR2 held at the University of Pisa. The delegation comprised of Prof. Ing. Philip Farrugia, Prof Ing. Glenn Cassar, Dr Ing. Pierre Vella, Ing. Emanuel Balzan and Edward Abela from the Faculty of Engineering. Dr Maria-Victoria Gauci from the Faculty for Social Wellbeing attended the consortium meeting on-line.
The Maltese delegation attended a two-day conference on User Experience Design for Virtual Rehabilitation (UX4VRehab), which was held as part of the PRIME-VR2 project. Three engineering design research related papers were presented by the Maltese researchers in the session on design and development of rehabilitation devices.
The PRIME-VR2 is financed by the Horizon 2020 programme (project reference: 856998). Its consortium consists of five academic institutions – University of Pisa (Italy) (lead partner), University of Strathclyde (UK), University of Malta, University of Oulu (Finland), and University College of London (UK), six industrial partners - Loud1Design Ltd (UK), Kerubiel (Hungary), Flying Squirrel Games Ltd (Malta), Capitola Digital (Netherlands), Crowdhelix Ltd (Ireland) and Inlecom (Ireland), and three living labs – Saint James Hospital (Malta), Kinisoforo Ltd (Cyprus), Global Disability Innovation Hub (UK). Further project details are available here.
