Motor Learning in a Virtual Environment for Vestibular Rehabilitation

Falls are a major risk to quality of life particularly in individuals with vestibular disorders. Studies show that virtual environments can provide a solution in vestibular rehabilitation. In this paper, a low cost virtual reality game was evaluated with respect to its effect on the user motor skills as measured by game performance scores. The performance scores included task completion time and accuracy, reflecting improvement in motor response patterns. Two levels of difficulty were used in the experiment, which was conducted in nine sessions over the course of three weeks. It was found that subjects felt very immersed in the environment and that user performance increased gradually in the environment. Head movements were required by the game consistently throughout the experiment period for both difficulty levels. The results suggest that this environment could be used in vestibular rehabilitation as it encourages head movements and trains motor responses.