Incorporation of motor control and motor learning principles into VR applications

The primary focus of rehabilitation for individuals with motor deficits is the relearning of specific motor skills and daily tasks. Rehabilitation strives to take advantage of neuroplastic processes during recovery, a process that can be addressed by creating enriched training environments using virtual reality (VR) based simulations. The objectives of this workshop are to review motor control and motor learning principles, to discuss how they can be exploited by VR training environments and to provide examples of how these principles have been incorporated into different VR simulations for improving upper limb motor recovery. The workshop includes a practical component in which participants will design a specific intervention for improving a typical motor problem incorporating motor control and motor learning principles, in both a VR-based and a non-VR-based clinical application. Finally, we will discuss the limitations of the current technologies with respect to their effectiveness and transfer of learning to daily life tasks.