Head Movement Effects in a Cost-Effective Virtual Reality Training Environment for Balance Rehabilitation

Falling is a major risk to the health and quality of life for the elderly and for those with vestibular impairment. Virtual environments have been investigated in the past for their potential for vestibular rehabilitation. In this study, a low cost, off-the-shelf virtual reality game was evaluated for user head movements. Two levels of difficulty were used in the training, conducted in five sessions over the course of one week. Subjects felt very immersed in the environment and game performance increased gradually. Lateral head movements were recorded consistently throughout the training period and between difficulty levels, with a range of 60° left and right. Performance on standard balance tests after training also showed improvement. This suggests that this readily available virtual reality game could be used in balance rehabilitation.