Development and Testing of Sample Therapeutic Programs on the Microsoft Kinect for Children with Cerebral Palsy

• Main Author: Ni, Lianting
• Other Authors: Biddiss, Elaine
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Virtual Reality Therapy; Cerebral Palsy; Kinect; Rehabilitation; Physiotherapy; Occupational Therapy; 0541; 0382; 0984
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/43271

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common condition leading to severe motor impairment in children. Children with CP must go through extensive therapy. Current therapy approaches are coming to use computer games therapeutic tools. However children with CP often have trouble using many of these virtual systems due to equipment challenges. This thesis uses the Kinect to design and create two therapeutic games (DODGEWALL and Reach+) that are tailored to be used in therapy for children with CP. It evaluates the usefulness of the system in a therapeutic context for children with CP through a study involving 6 therapists and 8 children with CP. It was found that overall, children were engaged and enjoyed playing the games. Further, the games developed were judged therapeutically relevant and will be included in a newly constructed VRT suite at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and used in therapy with appropriate children.