Review
Role of Virtual Reality for Cerebral Palsy Management
Weiss, P. T., Tirosh, E. & Fehlings, D.
Journal of Child Neurology, 2014, 29(8): 1119 – 1124
Link to abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24799367
Virtual reality can occupy a unique space in rehabilitation when designed by therapists as it can provide a motivating yet challenging place to learn transferrable skills and to capture performance feedback.
Objective: This article overviews several topics: virtual reality and clinical gaming for the population of children with cerebral palsy, key studies that identify different components of virtual reality systems as children with cerebral palsy interact with them, and aspects of virtual reality interaction beyond the enjoyable and motivating aspects of gameplay to measuring deeper emotional and psychological characteristics like autonomic responses to gaming.
"Virtual reality for rehabilitation has become more accessible and less expensive and more popular for clinicians… who want to take advantage of virtual reality’s assets for rehabilitation while ensuring that it is best suited to the client’s cognitive, motor and emotional abilities in the context of specific therapeutic goals". "Available data suggest exciting prospects for the use of virtual reality in the rehabilitation of children with physical disabilities."