PhysiCube: providing tangible interaction in a pervasive upper-limb rehabilitation system

Abstract

Persons with a neurological disorder are confronted with significantly reduced physical abilities during their daily activities. Physiotherapy, for these patients mainly provided in rehabilitation centres, utilizes tangible, real-world objects in training for the upper limbs. Only by intensely and frequently exercising, patients have a chance to sustain or enhance their functional performance. Our research explores pervasive technologies and tangible objects to provide motivating, technology-supported training systems in a residential environment for independent use by these patients. In this paper, we describe our pervasive training system ‘PhysiCube’, consisting of prototypes ‘LiftACube’ and ‘ReachACube’. PhysiCube takes advantage of tangible interactions and games to provide motivating physical training for the upper limbs. An evaluation with therapists showed great appreciation for our prototypes. Reflections on the technical setup and use of tangible interaction for these pervasive rehabilitation systems in a residential setting are elaborated upon.