title: Development of virtual reality stimuli for force platform posturography.
abstract: People relying much on vision in the control of posture are known to have an elevated risk of falling. Dependence on visual control is an important parameter in the diagnosis of balance disorders. We have previously shown that virtual reality (VR) methods can be used to produce visual stimuli that affect balance, but suitable stimuli need to be found. In this study, the effect of six different VR stimuli on the balance of 22 healthy test subjects was evaluated using force platform posturography. We report in more detail and expand the results published earlier. According to the tests two of the stimuli have a significant destabilizing effect on balance. In addition a significant displacement effect on the subject's center of pressure (COP) was found. Thus it is shown that the design of VR stimuli to cause different effects on the control of balance is possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Tampere, FIN-33014 Tampere, Finland. tt@cs.uta.fi
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tossavainen
authors.forename: Martti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Juhola
authors.forename: Ilmari
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pyykkö
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aalto
authors.forename: Esko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Toppila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture; D012678:Sensation Disorders; D014584:User-Computer Interface