title: Interactive design of patient-oriented video-games for rehabilitation: concept and application.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Serious video-games are innovative tools used to train the motor skills of subjects affected by neurological disorders. They are often developed to train a specific type of patients and the rules of the game are standardly defined. A system that allows the therapist to design highly patient-oriented video-games, without specific informatics skills, is proposed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The system consists of one personal computer, two screens, a Kinect™ sensor and a specific software developed here for the design of the video-games. It was tested with the collaboration of three therapists and six patients, and two questionnaires were filled in by each patient to evaluate the appreciation of the rehabilitative sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The therapists learned easily how to use the system, and no serious difficulties were encountered by the patients. The questionnaires showed an overall good satisfaction by the patients and highlighted the key-role of the therapist in involving the patients during the rehabilitative session.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was found that the proposed system is effective for developing patient-oriented video-games for rehabilitation. The two main advantages are that the therapist is allowed to (i) develop personalized video-games without informatics skills and (ii) adapt the game settings to patients affected by different pathologies. Implications for rehabilitation Virtual reality and serious video games offer the opportunity to transform the traditional therapy into a more pleasant experience, allowing patients to train their motor and cognitive skills. Both the therapists and the patients should be involved in the development of rehabilitative solutions to be highly patient-oriented. A system for the design of rehabilitative games by the therapist is described and the feedback of three therapists and six patients is reported.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering (DIMEG) , University of Calabria , Rende , Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lupinacci
authors.affiliation: a Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering (DIMEG) , University of Calabria , Rende , Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gatti
authors.affiliation: b ANMIC Riabilitazione , Crotone , Italy.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Melegari
authors.affiliation: b ANMIC Riabilitazione , Crotone , Italy.
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fontana
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D012782:Shoulder / Q000502:physiology; D012985:Software Design; D060726:Torso / Q000502:physiology; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018910:Video Games; D000076142:Virtual Reality
keywords: Kinect™ v2; Virtual reality; patient-oriented therapy; serious video-games; shoulder rehabilitation; trunk rehabilitation