Children with developmental coordination disorder play active virtual reality games differently than children with...

Area of Science:

• Biomechanical analysis
• Pediatric motor control
• Rehabilitation technology

Background:

• Active virtual reality gaming (AVG) offers potential for motor skill practice in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
• Assessing movement quality during AVG is crucial for its therapeutic application in DCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the motor pattern quality of children with DCD and typical development (TD) during AVG.
• To investigate differences in motor patterns between two AVG systems: PlayStation 3 Move and Xbox 360 Kinect.

Main Methods:

• Quasi-experimental, biomechanical laboratory study.
• Twenty-one children with DCD and 19 children with TD (ages 10-12) played table tennis on two AVG systems.
• Motion analysis recorded hand path, wrist, and elbow angles; linear mixed-models analyzed group and AVG type differences.

Main Results:

• Children with DCD exhibited slower hand path speed and greater wrist extension and elbow flexion than TD children.
• Significant differences in movement patterns were observed between the PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect AVG systems.

Conclusions:

• Kinematic measures revealed distinct movement patterns in children with DCD during AVG.
• Careful clinical selection of AVG type and assessment of movement quality are necessary for effective therapeutic use in DCD.