Mixed Reality Application Treats Balance Disorders

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 31 Dec 2018

A novel application offers an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience to treat vestibular dizziness and balance disorders.

The Scale-1 Portal (Paris, France) MoveR is a vestibular rehabilitation therapy application intended for health professionals that offers two experiences that immerse the user in a virtual environment, using only a pair of three-dimensional (3D) glasses. Using a touch screen with a simple and clear interface, the physician is able to control the two scenarios directly so as to generate a sensory conflict that induces greater use of somesthesia and the vestibular system, thus reducing visual dependence in such disorders.

Image: A clinician controlling a patient’s augmented reality experience (Photo courtesy of Scale-1 Portal).

The mixed reality system aims to reduce visual dependence in disorders related to balance; one of the experiences is much more interactive than the other, encouraging patients to perform movements in response to the physician’s choices, such as trying to catch virtual objects or avoid obstacles along a scrolling path. The equipment can be integrated into any room, leaning on existing walls and/or ceilings, without monopolizing a dedicated floor space.

The application was developed with the aid of Thierry Guillot, a physiotherapist specialized in balance disorders at Pôle Vertiges et Équilibre (Montigny le Bretonneux, France), and is based on the Scale-1 Portal VOXEL gaming platform, an immersive virtual reality (VR) solution without a headset that includes a 3D theater, focusing on the social experience of gaming and exercising in real-time. User can freely interact with the virtual world using their body as in the real life, without having to wear body sensors.

Related Links:
Scale-1 Portal