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Published on: June 9, 2020
Comparing children's driving abilities in physical and virtual environments
Naomi Gefen1,2, Amihai Rigbi3, Phillipe S Archambault4,5
1Department of Occupational Therapy, ALYN Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
Insights
The McGill Immersive Wheelchair Simulator (MiWe-C) is validated for children with disabilities, offering a practice mode comparable to real-world driving. This affordable, user-friendly tool enhances mobility skills for children aged 5-18.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Engineering
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Virtual Reality in Healthcare
Background:
- Powered mobility devices are crucial for children with disabilities, enhancing independence.
- Training and practice are essential for proficient wheelchair navigation.
- Limited accessible and safe practice environments exist for pediatric powered mobility users.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare children's wheelchair driving performance in physical and virtual environments.
- To validate the McGill Immersive Wheelchair Simulator (MiWe-C) for pediatric use.
- To assess the efficacy of a high-fidelity simulator for training.
Main Methods:
- 30 children (5-18 years) with physical disabilities used powered wheelchairs.
- Participants completed a physical route and a high-fidelity simulation of the same route.
- The 32-item Powered Mobility Programme (PMP) assessed driving performance in both modes.
Main Results:
- Overall PMP scores were high and not significantly different between physical and simulated driving (p=0.09).
- Five specific PMP tasks (e.g., narrow corridors, doorways) showed higher scores in the physical driving mode.
- The MiWe-C demonstrated high fidelity in replicating real-world driving challenges.
Conclusions:
- The MiWe-C is a validated, affordable, and user-friendly simulator for children with physical disabilities.
- It provides a viable additional practice mode for powered mobility skills, usable in various settings.
- The simulator allows for independent practice, reducing the need for constant adult supervision.
Purpose:
To compare children's driving abilities in a physical and virtual environment and to validate the McGill Immersive Wheelchair Simulator (MiWe-C) for the use of children with disabilities.
Materials And Methods:
Participants included 30 children (17 males, 13 females; mean age 14 y 1 mo, [SD 3 y 6 mo]; range: 5-18 y) with cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disease and spinal cord injury. All children were proficient drivers with more than 3 months' experience, who had their own powered wheelchairs. Participants drove a 15-minute physical route and high-fidelity simulation of that route in a counterbalanced order. Performance of the two routes was compared using the 32 item Powered Mobility Programme (PMP). Differences between the driving modes were analyzed with the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Significance was set at α = 0.05.
Results:
The scores for the total PMP score as rated during both simulator wheelchair driving and during physical driving were very high (M = 4.90, SD = 0.20; M = 4.96, SD = 0.12, respectively) with no significant difference between them (z= -1.69, p = .09). Five out of the 32 PMP tasks showed significant differences between driving modes (narrow corridors, crowded corridors, doorway, sidewalks), with higher scores for the physical driving mode.
Conclusions:
Having a validated powered mobility simulator for children provides a viable option for an additional practice mode. The MiWe-C simulator is affordable and a user-friendly simulator that can be used anywhere including at home and in school. Children can be independent when practicing even if they are not yet proficient drivers since continual adult assistance is not needed.Implications for rehabilitationHaving a validated powered mobility simulator for children provides a viable option for an additional practice mode.The MiWe-C is now validated to be used with children 5-18 years with physical disabilities.The MiWe-C is one of the few options for children to practice outside of a research environment.
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