[Nature Medicine Conference] XeRapy: 노년층의 감각운동 및 사회치료 접근성 확보를 위한 확장현실(XR) 프레임워크 연구 (2022)

[Nature Medicine Conference] XeRapy: eXtended Reality (XR) as Sensorimotor and Social Therapy Accessible for Elders (2022)

* This is a preliminary research of XeRapy presented at Nature Medicine Conference 2022, as one of its 7 selected presenters.

XERAPY: EXTENDED REALITY AS SENSORIMOTOR AND SOCIAL THERAPY ACCESSIBLE FOR ELDERS

Inhwa Yeom1

1BiOVE, Seoul, South Korea

Extended Reality(XR), as a network setting across interoperable Augmented Reality(AR) and Virtual Reality(VR) devices, has been projected as both an effective and efficient media for providing therapy to older adults. Despite the increasing needs in XR-based therapy, only little has been investigated on how AR and VR, as media themselves, could include the older adult’s physical conditions and cognitive experiences during a therapeutic session in a remote network setting. Even less has been observed on how an interoperable network setting across the heterogenous reality-devices can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of therapy from both the older adult’s and therapist/facilitator’s perspective. 

For this, we first conducted semi-structured interviews and a survey to discover the needs of both the older adults (N=76) and professional therapists (N=13) during their in-person therapy sessions, as well as with AR and VR devices. Based on these findings, we propose XeRapy, a wearable XR-based therapy system for enhancing sensorimotor and social capabilities of older adults. The system supports audiovisual therapeutic experiences in 3D spatial environments, recognition and tracking of the participant’s locomotion during the therapy session, as well as motor-sensory communication with a therapist/facilitator and other participants in real time. 

In our preliminary user evaluation with XeRapy, the participants validated the efficacy and usability of the system through qualitative interviews. The results demonstrated that, while overcoming the limits of time and space, XR enables a complex set of therapeutic experiences such as: 1) the sense of presence with  therapist/facilitator and other participants, 2) the sense of engagement and self-expression with bodily movements, 3) motor-cognitive enhancement thereby, that are also aided with  4) real-time supervision and feedback of therapist/facilitator. 

We conclude with implications on how an XR-based therapy system can support the enhancement of one’s motor skills and social capability in later life, as well as a better inclusion of older adults in therapeutic experiences in a technical setting.