Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital
Virtual Reality & Mobility
The Research Unit on Virtual Reality & Mobility focuses on research that leads to: 1) the understanding of normal visuomotor mechanisms (perception and eye movement) regulating the control of locomotion and balance; 2) the investigation of abnormal visuomotor mechanisms and their role in the poor control of balance and mobility in older adults and persons with stroke; and 3) the development of novel virtual reality based therapies that provide enhanced visual environments to treat and/or prevent balance and mobility disorders. State-of-the-art equipment purchased with CFI funds include a miniature video-based eye motion tracking system (ASL) and a portable head mounted display (NVisor) to visualize the virtual environments. Virtual environments are created by versatile animation software (Softimage) and controlled by special software (Caren D-Flow) that runs on a powerful PC workstation.
List of current projects
Dr. Anouk Lamontagne
- Use of virtual reality for the rehabilitation of walking after stroke
- Visuomotor control of locomotion in stroke and in the healthy elderly
- Cortical areas involved in the control of locomotor steering
- Coordination of upper and lower limbs during gait
- The influence of visuospatial neglect on locomotor abilities
- Playing piano to enhance upper extremity function after stroke (M. Villeneuve)