Comparison of powered wheelchair driving performance in a real and in a simulated environment

Powered wheelchairs (PW) are instrumental in promoting participation in meaningful life activities for individuals with impaired mobility. Because of their weight and speed, training is required. It is however often difficult to provide training in the clinic, due to lack of space or concerns for safety. The McGill Immersive Wheelchair simulator has been developed to provide a robust platform for the assessment and training of PW driving skills. In this study, we compared PW driving performance, as measured by the number of joystick movements and task completion time, in real and simulated environments. We found that driving performance in the simulator was similar for simpler tasks such as forward turns. Driving performance was significantly different for the more difficult tasks and for those requiring backward driving, such as a lateral maneuver. Overall, users experienced a strong sense of presence in the simulator and felt that it adequately reflected reality. Further developments are planned to optimize the simulator and joystick control in order to provide an effective evaluation and training tool.