A Microsoft Kinect Based Virtual Rehabilitation System

Virtual reality technology is currently widely applied in physical rehabilitation therapy. The ability to track joint positions for Microsoft Kinect might be useful for rehabilitation, both in clinical setting and at home. Currently, most systems developed for virtual rehabilitation and motor training require quite complex and expensive hardware and can be used only in clinical settings. Now, a low-cost rehabilitation game training system has been developed for patients with movement disorders, it is suitable for home use under the distant supervision of a therapist. This research explores the potential and the limitations of the Kinect in the application of e-rehabilitation. Commercial Kinect games present disadvantages that are mainly bounded to the fact that they are not developed for rehabilitation purposes. We evaluated the tools that could be used to help promote physical rehabilitation at home by reducing the frequency of hospital visits, resulting in the reduction of healthcare cost. A prototypic system has been developed for the evaluation of 5 different games, which are useful for e-rehabilitation. As we see from the result, it indicated a slightly positive outcome for the patients after got involved the treatment. Also the questionnaire outcome reveals that the designed exercises were perceived as effective and easy in operation.