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Virtual reality goes from popular arcade game to helpful Israeli-built medical device

Posted on May 1, 2007 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Technology View Comments

CCMag reports:

Israeli scientists have created a small, wearable virtual reality device that combines auditory and visual feedback to improve walking speed and stride length in patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s disease.

According to lead researcher Professor Yoram Baram of the Faculty of Computer Science, the device combines a wearable, cell phone-sized audio component – which measures body movement, processes it and sends feedback to the user through earphones – with a visual feedback apparatus he developed for Parkinson’s patients 10 years ago.

The visual component presents users with a virtual, tiled-floor image displayed on one eye via a tiny piece that clips onto glasses worn by the user. This allows the user to distinguish between the virtual floor and real obstacles, making it possible to navigate even rough terrain or stairs.

…“Healthy people have other tools, such as sensory feedback from muscles nerves, which report on muscle control, telling them whether or not they are using their muscles correctly,” says Baram. “This feedback is damaged in Parkinson and MS patients and the elderly, but auditory feedback can be used to help them walk at a fixed pace.”

…The integrated device – the first to respond to the patient’s motions rather than just providing fixed visual or auditory cues – is already in use at a number of medical centers in Israel and the United States, including the University of Cincinnati and the State University of New York.

“Virtual Reality Helps MS Patients Walk Better” CCMag, April 30, 2007

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