Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 10, 2026
A Rehabilitation Program of Exoskeleton-assisted Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training with Non-immersive Virtual Reality for Stroke Patients
Published on: May 16, 2025
Feasibility and Usability of an Omnidirectional Treadmill-Based Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Game: A Mixed-Methods
Adria Quigley1,2, Dru Pierson1, Juhui Jeong1
1Dalhousie University, School of Physiotherapy, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada.
Importance:
Virtual reality (VR) has been introduced to stroke rehabilitation along with omnidirectional (360°) treadmills to promote improvements in walking and balance.
Objective:
The primary objective was to develop a rehabilitation omni-VR game and estimate the feasibility and usability of the game according to individuals with chronic stroke and physical therapists. The secondary objective was to generate preliminary walking characteristics and postural sway data among survivors of stroke.
Design:
This was a mixed-methods feasibility study.
Setting:
This study took place at a stroke research lab in Halifax, Canada.
Participants:
The participants were individuals with chronic stroke and stroke rehabilitation physical therapists.
Exposure:
The research team developed a VR game involving 8 walking and balance tasks on an omnidirectional treadmill. Physical therapists and survivors of stroke tested the game in a single session and participated in a semi structured interview.
Main Outcomes And Measures:
Main outcomes and measures were recruitment rate, user experiences, participant burden, technical issues, safety, and exercise dose. Descriptive statistics were calculated for feasibility outcomes and interview data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results:
Eight survivors of stroke (4 female, 4 male) and 4 female physical therapists participated in the study. Feasibility and usability targets were met, except for user experience scores and technical issues. For survivors of stroke, the mean steps taken during the VR game was 693.0 (standard deviation, SD = 223.6), they reached 66.4% SD = 10.7 of predicted maximum heart rate, and the mean game testing time was 25.5 minutes SD = 13.5. Five qualitative themes emerged: benefits of the omni-VR system, difficulties & challenges with omni-VR, suggestions for improvements, application to rehabilitation, and safety of the system.
Conclusions:
There is preliminary evidence for the feasibility of omni-VR for stroke rehabilitation.
Relevance:
The VR game appears to be of adequate intensity, provides a larger number of repetitions, and is of comparable duration to traditional rehabilitation sessions.
