Development of a handedness exchange support system using tangible devices

This study is aimed toward development of the system which supports early rehabilitation training of upper-limbs paralysis. The form of rehabilitation training covered is handedness exchange. Among rehabilitation for functional impairments to a person´s dominant hand, in addition to functional training targeting the affected area, there is also training that aims to enable the person to use their other (non-dominant) hand instead. This handedness exchange rehabilitation training aims to bring out the potential functional capability of the non-dominant hand. This training involves practicing manipulating chopsticks and penmanship practice, and because it requires manipulation of delicate tools, the burden for patients can be significant. We have produced a prototype system that can be carried out with patients enjoying handedness exchange even within medical wards. In this paper, we describe the availability of our system to training program of handedness exchange.