Augmented environments for pediatric rehabilitation

Issue title: Virtual Reality and Disability

Guest editors: Christian Berger-Vachonx, Daniel R. Mestre and Alain Pruskiy

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Chau, Tom^{a; b; *} | Eaton, Ceilidh^c | Lamont, Andrea^a | Schwellnus, Heidi^a | Tam, Cynthia^a

Affiliations: [a] Bloorview Kids Rehab, Toronto, Canada | [b] Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada | [c] The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada | [x] University of Lyon, France | [y] Université François-Rabelais de Tours, Laboratoire d'Informatique, Polytech Tours, France

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Tom Chau, Bloorview Research Institute, 150 Kilgour Road, Toronto, Canada. Tel.: +1 416 425 6220 ext. 3515; Fax: +1 426 425 1634; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: Computer-mediated, augmented environments endow the real physical surroundings with additional properties or information. We present two augmented environment systems developed at the largest paediatric rehabilitation hospital in Canada. One enables children with motor impairments to create music while the other facilitates the relearning of community mobility skills in adolescents with acquired brain injury. We describe system features, results of preliminary studies with selected client populations and argue that further investigation of augmented environments as assistive technologies for paediatric rehabilitation is warranted.

Keywords: Intelligent systems, assistive technology for children

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-2006-18402

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 167-171, 2006