Rehab as you play: motorcycle driving simulation system

  Patient experience

Get in the driver’s seat again

Virtual reality technology offers a big step forward on rehabilitation services which facilitate patients’ training and have better rehabilitation outcome.

Community Rehabilitation Service Support Centre (CRSSC) of HA has adopted VR technology in motorcycle driver assessment since mid-2018. Most patients are injured in lower limbs, such as fractures and soft tissue damage. They also serve patients who have stroke, brain damage and waist and neck injuries.

The motorcycle driving simulation system adopts non-immersive VR technology. Three display screens form the image of the road in front. Different scenes are set according to day and night, weather, traffic flow and road segment characteristics to test driver’s reaction to lighting, braking and making correct response in reaction to different road conditions.

Jonathan Chow, Senior Occupational Therapist of CRSSC, says that the hardware of the motorcycle including seat, throttle, clutch and pedal are all real components. The software of the driving system is introduced from overseas since huge local technical resources and long testing time are required. It took three years for the whole development process, from concept development, sourcing motorcycle hardware, software development, scenes design with local rehabilitation technicians to installation and testing.

Public hospitals using VR technology in rehab training

Walking training: To improve patients’ walking speed and gait pattern
• Tai Po Hospital - Community Re-walk: VR Treadmill Training Programme
• Princess Margaret Hospital - Robotic Gait Training

Rehab training: To train patients’ trunk, and upper and lower limbs control,
balance and exercise endurance
• Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital - See Me Rehabilitation System
• Princess Margaret Hospital - Video Game Assisted Exercise Training
• Princess Margaret Hospital - Virtual Reality Bike Training
• Princess Margaret Hospital - Virtual Reality Training

Upper limb rehab: To train patients’ upper limb movement and coordination
• Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital - YouGrabber
• Prince of Wales Hospital - Stroke Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation
• Princess Margaret Hospital - Robotic Upper Limb System

Cognitive training: To improve elders’ concentration and cognitive ability
• Prince of Wales Hospital - Dementia Cognitive Rehabilitation –
  Community Living Skills Training Programme
• Tuen Mun Hospital & Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) Community Health Centre -
  Cognitive Training Programme

Driving rehab: To assess and train patients’ driving ability
(e.g. reaction time and speed control)
• United Christian Hospital - VR Driver Assessment and Rehabilitation

Fall prevention training: To teach the elders fall prevention knowledge and
enhance their confidence in walking safely
• Tuen Mun Hospital & Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) Community Health Centre -
  Fall Prevention Programme