An Immersive Virtual Reality Exergame for People with Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects primarily motor system. Physical exercise is considered important for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) to slow down disease progression and maintain abilities and quality of life. However, people with PD often experience barriers to exercises that causes low-level adherence to exercise plans and programs. Virtual Reality (VR) is an innovative and promising technology for motor and cognitive rehabilitation. Immersive VR exergames have potential advantages by allowing for individualized skill practice in a motivating interactive environment without distractions from outside events. This paper presents an immersive virtual reality (VR) exergame aiming at motor training on fingers and hand-and-eye coordination. The results from the usability study indicate that immersive VR exergames have potential to provide motivating and engaging physical exercise for people with PD. Through this research, we hope to contribute to evidence-based design principles for task-specific immersive VR exergames for patients with Parkinson’s Disease.