Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Awards Grant uri icon

abstract

  • Purpose: The ability to maintain balance during daily activity is critical for quality of life. The balance ability can be quantified by the sensory organization test in a clinic setting. However, the equipment for the sensory organization test is quite expensive. The purpose of this proposal is to develop an affordable clinic sensory organization test using virtual reality (VR) headset to quantify the balance performance in people with balance deficits.
    Hypothesis: It is hypothesized that 1) virtual reality will be able to provide visual stimulation similar to the original sensory organization test and 2) the VR balance testing scenes will be able to detect balance deficits in community dwelling older adults as comparing with the original sensory organization test.
    Significance: To significantly reduce the cost of current equipment for the sensory organization test in the primary care settings and physical therapy clinics. The project also promotes utilizing VR technology in clinic settings.
    Method: 10 older adults (ages 65-85) will be recruited in this study for one study visit. The coded sensory organization balance test in VR includes six testing scenes where subjects will be asked to remain still while wearing the Virtual reality headset for 30 seconds in each testing scene. The testing scene will provide visual illusions to the subject to measure the subject's ability to maintain balance. The visual illusions include different optic flow stimulations, such as moving the walls of the room, pass through a tunnel, and moving dots. The subject will be asked to complete the original sensory organization to compare the results.

date/time interval

  • January 2021 - February 2021