Digitizing the Hand Rehabilitation Using Serious Games Methodology with User-Centered Design Approach

The upper extremities of the human body have a high probability of getting injured during lifetime. Injury in the upper extremity, especially in the hand usually affects motor control ability, leading to difficulties in performing the daily life activities. This research studied the development of a digital solution for hand rehabilitation using serious games to aid patients in rehabilitating their hand. The system involves both patient and therapist in a user-centered design approach. The problem with normal rehabilitation exercises is it lacks the motivation aspect as well as that many of them cannot be performed at home without the therapist supervision. The main objective of this research was to develop a web based serious game using Leap Motion which is a markerless motion capture device that allows patients to perform their exercises at anytime and in any place. To gather user requirements and to design and evaluate prototypes, both normal hand therapy sessions and our serious game hand therapy sessions were observed, as well as both patient and therapist were interviewed. Three iterations of design were performed until we reached the current prototype, and each prototype was tested and evaluated by both the patients and the therapists. The patients reported a high level of enjoyment and motivation while playing the game, and the therapists and the physician reported that this method is an effective tool in the hand therapy process.