Development of Health Preservation Equipments using Virtual Reality

概要

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Health maintenance is inevitable especially in the case of elderly people. Horse back riding therapy, which was developed in Europe, has been found to be effective in satisfying the health care needs. Since riding does not cause any psychological burden, it can be described as a training to regain physical functions suitable for the elderly. The only drawback is thet one need to have access to live horses, which limits the wide spread application of this method. To address this problem and to make the therapy available to healthy elderly people, we have been developing horseback riding therapy system using VR Technology.This paper aims at describing two versions of such developed equipment. The First version reproduces both the precise movements of the saddle and a stripped down and the second one is a home use system that employs a simpler and more cost-effective mechanism yet achieves the purpose of a physical training. The system is found to be effective in improving abdominal strength, back strength, and the strength of both extension and flexing of knee musckles. The system is also proved to be effective in preventing stumble, fall and backaches arising from deformed body postures.
Japanese Society for Medical Virtual Realityの論文