Development of a wheelchair simulator for children with multiple disabilities
📝 Abstract
Virtual reality allows to create situations which can be experimented under the control of the user, without risks, in a very flexible way. This allows to develop skills and to have confidence to work in real conditions with real equipment. VR is then widely used as a training and learning tool. More recently, VR has also showed its potential in rehabilitation and therapy fields because it provides users with the ability of repeat their actions several times and to progress at their own pace. In this communication, we present our work in the development of a wheelchair simulator designed to allow children with multiple disabilities to familiarize themselves with the wheelchair.
💡 Analysis
Virtual reality allows to create situations which can be experimented under the control of the user, without risks, in a very flexible way. This allows to develop skills and to have confidence to work in real conditions with real equipment. VR is then widely used as a training and learning tool. More recently, VR has also showed its potential in rehabilitation and therapy fields because it provides users with the ability of repeat their actions several times and to progress at their own pace. In this communication, we present our work in the development of a wheelchair simulator designed to allow children with multiple disabilities to familiarize themselves with the wheelchair.
📄 Content
Development of a Wheelchair Simulator for Children with Multiple Disabilities
Nancy Rodriguez* LIRMM (Laboratoire de Informatique, Robotique et Microéléctronique de Montpellier)
ABSTRACT Virtual reality allows to create situations which can be experimented under the control of the user, without risks, in a very flexible way. This allows to develop skills and to have confidence to work in real conditions with real equipment. VR is then widely used as a training and learning tool. More recently, VR has also showed its potential in rehabilitation and therapy fields because it provides users with the ability of repeat their actions several times and to progress at their own pace. In this communication, we present our work in the development of a wheelchair simulator designed to allow children with multiple disabilities to familiarize themselves with the wheelchair.
Keywords: virtual reality, simulator, disability, multiple disabilities, wheelchair, learning, augmented and alternative communication, interaction devices Index Terms: I.3.1 [Computer Graphics]: Hardware Architecture — Input devices; I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism – Virtual reality; H.5.1 [Information Interfaces And Presentation]: Multimedia Information Systems — Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities H.5.2 [Information Interfaces And Presentation]: User Interfaces — Input devices and strategies 1 INTRODUCTION Training is an application area perfectly suited to virtual reality. VR allows the development of specific skills and to evolve independently VR simulation create a safe learning environment, user can test the consequences of his actions without risk in the real world. With a simulation, it is possible to expand the range of possible situations and to adapt them to different users, capabilities and knowledge[1][2]. In addition, the virtual environment allows to easy and quantitatively assessing the progress of the user and his weaknesses [3].
The objective of the current work we present in this article is the realization of an electric wheelchair simulator for children with multiple disabilities, aged between 13 and 16 years. This simulator will prepare children to wheelchair driving, taking into account motor and cognitive aspects. The first stage of this work concerns the development of a demonstrator to assess children’s interest in the IT tool, which will then be integrated into their learning project.
“Multiples disabilities” is a serious handicap associating motor
impairment and severe mental retardation, resulting in a extreme
restriction of autonomy and possibilities of perception, expression
and relationship [4]. In fact, drive autonomously a wheelchair
provides better mental and motor development by initiating new
movements and by increasing socialization. But learning to drive
a wheelchair in real conditions can be dangerous and tiresome
sometimes even scary for patients, which can lead to slow this
crucial stage in their development. The use of a virtual
environment can help in this learning process and also allow them
to use an electric wheelchair earlier, once children habituate and
control the emotions provoked by driving.
In addition, the handling of the vehicle is not intuitive and
requires practice, especially for patients with severe motor
dysfunction preventing them from using conventional devices
such as the joystick. A simulator may help find which devices are
suitable for the individual and teach him how to use it without
taking any risk.
This project is carried out in collaboration between the Institute
for Children and Adolescents with multiple disabilities Coste
Rousse located in Prades-le-Lez (Hérault, France) and the
Laboratory of Informatics, Robotics and Microelectronics of
Montpellier (LIRMM) in Montpellier. We work closely with the
multidisciplinary team (educators, orthoptist, physiotherapist) of
the center to make the simulator accessible from this conception.
2 RELATED WORK
Several wheelchair simulators are available; some designed to
learn to drive or to evaluate the wheelchair and others to
understand the difficulties of using a wheelchair and evaluate
constructions accessibility. But there is not, to our knowledge, a
simulator designed or adaptable for children with multiple
disabilities. Marchal-Crespo presents in [5] a wheelchair
prototype to facilitate the learning to drive, especially for the
mentally handicapped. The system provides a chair with force
feedback joystick and sensors to detect collisions. The prototype
is able to avoid the walls and other obstacles to help movement.
In the work of Steyn[6], the simulator uses a immersive virtual reality interface displayed on 4 screens and a physical platform with a force feedback chair. ACCESSIM [7] uses a very realistic representation of urban areas to educate architects and decision makers on the difficul
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