More on Wii-hab

Please excuse that terrible pun, but here's another terrific article on the use of Nintendo Wii in rehabilitation, specifically for stroke victims. This study is headed by the Afferent Corporation, which develops devices that treat neurological dysfunction. A representative from the company, Bethany Therrien, states that playing the Wii stimulates a greater flow of sensory information to the brain, allowing the patient to reform old functional pathways.

VR Environments for Autistic People & Drug Addicts

I just learned about research at Duke University by Dr. Zachary Rosenthal that focuses on helping crack addicts effectively complete rehab. The Cognitive Behavioral Research and Treatment Program at Duke is the first instance I've heard in which virtual environments are used to simulate real-life scenarios specifically for drug users. The website states that randomized clinical trials are under way; it will be interesting to see the preliminary results.

MSN has a great profile of Brigadoon, a virtual island in Second Life that allows people with Asperger's to hone communication and socialization skills. At the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas, therapists are pushing the virtual environment one step farther and actually integrating them into therapy. The Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article (subscription required) applications of virtual reality for autistic people that quotes Dr. Rosenthal as well as the Director of the Center for Brain Health, Dr. Sandra Chapman. Since one hallmark of Asperger's is an inability to read facial expressions or detect nonverbal context clues, therapists work with patients to role play and analyze social situations. With the therapist's help, the patient can gain insight into how they handled specific situations and discuss appropriate actions and reactions.

Chapman asserts that the premise of such therapeutic interventions is that the brain can rewire pathways with intensive, experience-based practice. Virtual worlds offer a safe space for people to gain this invaluable practice, as well as a forum for patient, therapist, family members, and friends to interact. Chapman points out that the early, formative years, as the brain is developing, are a crucial time to help rewire neurological pathways. Center for Brain Health participants undergo a series of testing both pre- and post- treatment, including brain imaging and neurocognitive testing. It's an exciting time for autism research, and I can't wait to see some brain imaging or effect size numbers.

Further Reading:
http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2007/11/18-003.html

Rehab + Wii

As an undergraduate at Case, I heard anecdotal support for using the Nintendo Wii system to help nursing home patients get much-needed exercise and rehabilitation. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently profiled another Ohio university, OSU, using the Wii system to complement therapy for paralyzed and injured patients. Check out the video here.

Most proponents of Wii-therapy are quick to say that it won't replace traditional therapy, but merely offers additional help for patients. Also, no one has quantified its effects yet; the evidence is merely anecdotal. I'm interested in research that provides a more systematic look at this exciting new research and a plan to integrate it more officially into therapies. Please shoot me an e-mail at elyse.moretti@gmail.com if you have any leads. Thanks!

ALICE & Storytelling ALICE

Just found this great article about Dr. Randy Pausch and his ALICE programs. I've personally been teaching an after-school class featuring Storytelling Alice, a spin-off created especially for middle-schoolers that makes programming simple, engaging, and fun. In the coming months, I plan on sharing screenshots from my students' work with Storytelling Alice, anecdotes, and other experiences. My focus will be on teaching complex skills to populations with special needs, and I'll be developing this as a thesis for my master's program as well.

Gaming for Pain Relief

Video games are being called "the new pain pill" after a study from Simon Fraser University showed that virtual reality games provided very real relief for chronic pain sufferers. When compared to chronic sufferers on a standard drug treatment, the VR group reported substantially lower pain ratings. This is pretty cool news, especially for gaming enthusiasts or people who firmly believe that technology needs to be more integrated into therapy practices. The next step for Diane Gromala, the SFU professor who headed the study, is to develop a way to help chronic pain sufferers manage their pain systematically and implement such technology into standard practices of healthcare professionals.

Next Generation
WIRED Game Life
Canada.com

Dr. Randy Pausch and the Last Lecture

Innovative virtual reality pioneer Dr. Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University gave a talk on realizing your childhood dreams and enabling others to realize their dreams this past Tuesday night to a packed CMU auditorium. Pausch has terminal pancreatic cancer, and the lecture was his last. Pausch has done tremendous things for virtual reality, computer programming, and education and collaborated with institutions far and wide and groups such as Disney Imagineering and Electronic Arts. His ALICE, his program that makes learning to program simple, interactive, and fun, is being used to teach computer programming all over the world. You can read more about his Stage3 Research group, which strives to bring virtual reality to the next level, here.

Below is one of the first parts of his lecture; the complete speech is available in sections on YouTube and from CMU. The talk was powerful; captivating, enlightening, honest, and funny. In the end, Pausch reveals that one of the 'head fakes' of the lecture is that it was for his three children: though they weren't present, they are all under the age of five, and now they will be able to see their father's life lessons throughout their own lives, even if he won't be around to impart them in person. Moving, heartwrenching, and just plain good entertainment: all in a day's work for the co-founder of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center.



Read articles about Dr. Pausch and his Last Lecture in the Wall Street Journal and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can also read about it at MetaFilter.

VR in Pediatric Physical Therapy

The Myrtle Beach Sun News reports on the emerging role of virtual reality in pediatric rehabilitation and physical therapy. One particularly popular technology allows the patient to see themselves projected into the virtual world. In this way, children in wheelchairs can visualize themselves doing everything from scoring goals on the soccer pitch to snowboarding down a snowy slope. The article also highlights the work of Pennsyvlania company VTree, Inc. Their actions back up their mission statement of helping to provide affordable technological solutions to physically and developmentally challenged people, such as employing developmentally delayed workers, taking input from parents, therapists, and teachers of students with special needs, and partnering with corporate sponsors to provide quality, yet affordable products to populations with special needs.