The effects of visual feedback in therapeutic exergaming on motor task accuracy

Poor exercise technique and lack of adherence during home exercise are implicated in preventing a full recovery to peak physical function during rehabilitation. It is widely believed that therapeutic exergaming has the potential to solve these issues. However, the field is still young and there is little empirical evidence supporting, in particular, its effectiveness in helping the patient to maintain correct technique. In this paper we present preliminary results from a study to examine the effects that visual feedback during exergaming has on a person's accuracy in performing a motor task. Our study showed that interacting with a game incorporating simple visual feedback results in improved accuracy compared to performing exercise from memory or with limited feedback in the form of an instructional video demonstration. These results provide early evidence that exergaming can be used to enhance technique during exercise performance.