Virtual environment for lower-extremities training

This study proposed virtual reality (VR) as a modality of lower-extremities training. A kinematic model of a human body and a corresponding virtual figure were developed, in order to visualize the movements of the subject in a real-time virtual environment on a large display, which represented a virtual mirror. An optical system with active markers was used to assess the movements of a training subject. A preliminary investigation was conducted with a group of healthy male subjects, who performed the stepping-in-place test by tracking the movements of the reference virtual figure, which represented a virtual instructor. Both figures were shown in the virtual mirror at the same time from the desired angle of view. Four stepping tasks featuring different cadences and hip angles were performed, with difficulty levels ranging from easy to demanding. The results obtained included basic kinematic and temporal parameters, which provided quantitative measures of a subject's adaptation to the virtual training environment, and thereby justifying the feasibility of the virtual mirror as a useful system in lower-extremities training applications. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.