Application of virtual reality in postural stability rehabilitation

Virtual reality (VR) environments were used for postural balance treatment, training and rehabilitation. A patient task was to move a marker that represented instantaneous centre of foot pressure (CP) position on a computer screen while standing on a force platform. The marker has to reach a specific target (or targets on the screen), and the patient can navigate among them. A target could be any object, a simple box, a pictogram or even a fragment of real scene. Virtual Reality enabled patients with vertigo to recover or improve postural balance control - both static and dynamic. Thus VR became a save tool in postural balance rehabilitation since it reduces effects of anxiety and improves control of the CP position during quiet stance.