The Impact of Virtual Reality on Ranges of COP Motions During Gait

An essential aspect of rehabilitation is the maintenance of balance both when standing and in gait. Clinical practice sees equipment enabling the dynamic evaluation of posture stability involving the use of virtual reality. The use of virtual reality in rehabilitation supporting processes and, particularly, with respect to the improvement of motor activity and ability to balance the body, requires that the above-named technology should be tested in terms of its effect on humans. The objective of the tests was to assess changes in the ranges of movements of the COP during gait on treadmill. The assessment was based on measurements of the distribution of pressure on the ground in a system enabling the projection of sceneries created by means of virtual reality. The tests were performed using two different gait velocities as well as matched and mismatched velocity of the scenery motion in relation to actual treadmill motion conditions. The tests involved 32 individuals (26 females and 6 males) aged 23 (SD 1,8). The investigations consisted of 6 stages, in which a person provided with a safety harness walked on a treadmill and was subjected to measurements focused on the distribution of forces exerted by feet on the ground during gait. The tests justified a conclusion that the projection of a moving scenery performed using an HMD headset increased ranges of movements of the COP on the ground during gait on a treadmill. The mismatch between the treadmill velocity and the velocity displayed in virtual reality changed the range of the COP displacement in the AP direction only in the cases of the treadmill velocity changes. The test results constitute the first stage of research on the impact of virtual reality on the stability of human gait.