A Smartphone-based gaming system for vestibular rehabilitation: A usability study

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Virtual Reality Technology

Background:

• Vestibular dysfunctions cause significant impairments, impacting daily life.
• Conventional vestibular rehabilitation faces challenges with patient compliance due to boredom.
• Existing virtual reality (VR) vestibular rehabilitation tools are often costly and impractical for home use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess the usability of a smartphone-based head-mounted display (HMD) for vestibular rehabilitation.
• To quantify simulator sickness induced by the VR system.
• To evaluate the system's potential for home-based vestibular rehabilitation.

Main Methods:

• Developed two adaptive VR training games for discrete and rhythmic head movements (pitch and yaw planes).
• Evaluated usability and simulator sickness in healthy subjects and patients with unilateral vestibular dysfunction.
• Analyzed head movement kinematics using movement quality measures during training.

Main Results:

• 15 healthy subjects and 15 patients participated.
• Both groups reported high usability (System Usability Scale >80).
• Healthy subjects experienced minimal simulator sickness; patients reported higher incidence, potentially linked to their condition.

Conclusions:

• The smartphone-based VR system is usable and safe for vestibular rehabilitation.
• The compact and affordable system offers potential for effective home-based therapy.
• This technology can enhance engagement and adherence in vestibular rehabilitation programs.