Using a Human-Shaped Input Device for Telerehabilitation

There are several ways to instruct rehabilitation poses to patients in a remote area, such as phone calls using voice and video messaging using images. However, current methods do not allow the therapists to correct the patient´s poses intuitively. Moreover, the patients have no way to know whether the pose they are making is correct or not. In this study, we propose a method for instructing rehabilitation poses to a person in a remote area using a human-shaped input device called QUMARION. The therapist uses QUMARION to instruct a pose, while Kinect tracks the patient´s motion. By comparing the data acquired by both devices, the system evaluates the patient´s pose and checks whether the patient is making the pose as instructed by the therapist. The result is processed and shown on both the therapist´s and the patient´s displays in real time. We conducted an experiment that measured how precisely poses can be instructed through our system. The results showed that our system enables easy and effective instructions.