Investigating the Use of Virtual Reality Headsets for Postural Control Assessment: An Instrument Validation Study

dc.access.optionOpen Access
dc.contributor.authorSylcott, Brian
dc.contributor.authorLin, Chia-Cheng
dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Keith
dc.contributor.authorHinderaker, Mark
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-31T16:24:40Z
dc.date.available2022-01-31T16:24:40Z
dc.date.issued2020-10-11
dc.description.abstractAccurately measuring postural sway is an important part of balance assessment and rehabilitation. Although force plates give accurate measurements, their costs and space requirements make their use impractical in many situations. The work presented in this paper aimed to address this issue by validating a virtual reality (VR) headset as a relatively low-cost alternative to force plates for postural sway measurement. The HTC Vive (HTC Corporation) VR headset has built-in sensors that allow for position and orientation tracking, making it a potentially e?ective tool for balance assessments. Participants in this study were asked to stand upright on a force plate (NeuroCom; Natus Medical Incorporated) while wearing the HTC Vive. Position data were collected from the headset and force plate simultaneously as participants experienced a custom-built VR environment that covered their entire field of view. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to examine the test-retest reliability of the postural control variables, which included the normalized path length, root mean square (RMS), and peak-to-peak (P2P) value. These were computed from the VR position output data and the center of pressure (COP) data from the force plate. Linear regression was used to investigate the correlations between the VR and force plate measurements. Our results showed that the test-retest reliability of the RMS and P2P value of VR headset outputs (ICC: range 0.285-0.636) was similar to that of the RMS and P2P value of COP outputs (ICC: range 0.228-0.759). The linear regression between VR and COP measures showed significant correlations in RMSs and P2P values. Based on our results, the VR headset has the potential to be used for postural control measurements. However, the further development of software and testing protocols for balance assessments is needed.
dc.description.sponsorshipECU Open Access Publishing Support Funden_US
dc.identifier.doi10.2196/24950
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10342/9578
dc.publisherJMIR Publications
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.2196/24950en_US
dc.subjectpostural sway
dc.subjectvirtual reality (84)
dc.subjectforce plate
dc.subjectcenter of pressure
dc.titleInvestigating the Use of Virtual Reality Headsets for Postural Control Assessment: An Instrument Validation Study
dc.typeArticle
ecu.journal.issue4en_US
ecu.journal.nameRehabilitation and Assistive Technologiesen_US
ecu.journal.volume8en_US

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