“RehabConnex”: A middleware for the flexible connection of multimodal game applications with input devices used in movement therapy and physical exercising

“RehabConnex” is a middleware product, developed specifically to facilitate communication between hardware devices and multimodal game applications used in movement therapy and physical exercise. “RehabConnex“ is the core key development of the “IMIC”-project (Innovative Movement Therapy in Childhood), created by an interdisciplinary team of university partners to allow flexible connection between rehabilitation game environments and movement therapy robots for multimodal gameplay. “RehabConnex” both allows the patient to experience multimodal “human-robot-game-interaction” (HRGI) and helps the therapist to regulate and monitor the processes. In addition to its benefits for a broad range of game-based rehabilitation scenarios, the development of “RehabConnex” opens up similar perspectives for its use in multimodal game-based physical exercising (Exergames) and for other “human-device-game-interactions” (HDGI). “RehabConnex” yields innovative research questions on the general effects of multimodal environments.