Immersive Virtual Environments for Upper-Limb Robotic Rehabilitation

Salvatore L. Cucinella, Job L.A. Mulder, Joost C.F. de Winter, Laura Marchal-Crespo*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter/Conference proceedingChapterAcademic

Abstract

Neuroscience evidence suggests that personalized, task-specific, high-intensity training is essential for maximizing recovery after acquired brain injury. Robotic devices combined with immersive virtual reality (VR) games, visualized through head-mounted displays (HMDs), can support such intensive training within naturalistic virtual environments with audio-visual stimuli tailored to individual needs. However, the impact of these auditory and visual demands on cognitive load remains an open question. To address this, we conducted an experiment with 22 healthy participants to explore how varying levels of visual, auditory, and cognitive demands affect users’ cognitive load and performance during a shopping task in immersive VR. We found that mental demand had the most significant impact on increasing cognitive load and hampering task performance. Visual demands, although affecting gaze behavior, did not significantly affect cognitive load or performance. Auditory demands showed small effects on cognitive load.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationConverging Clinical and Engineering Research on Neurorehabilitation V
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 6th International Conference on Neurorehabilitation (ICNR 2024), November 5–8, 2024, La Granja, Spain
EditorsJL Pons, J Tornero, M Akay
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media
Pages411-415
Number of pages5
VolumeVolume 1
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-77588-8
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-77587-1, 978-3-031-77590-1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025

Publication series

SeriesBiosystems and Biorobotics
Volume31
ISSN2195-3562

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

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