Name: BRENO CARNEIRO MACEDO
Publication date: 22/03/2024
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ANSELMO FRIZERA NETO | Advisor |
Summary: The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that the elderly population will surpass 2.0 billion by 2050, which could result in societal challenges. The reduction in physical and cognitive abilities in this age group may impact the elderly’s ability to self-manage and actively participate in society. Human mobility, essential for the coordination and execution of movements such as walking, faces challenges due to the demographic increase of the elderly population. This study describes the development and integration of a treadmill instrumented with a human-machine interface, specifically designed to extract dynamic walking parameters from the user and automatically adjust the treadmill speed in real time, as per the detected walking pattern. This innovation is complemented by the incorporation of serious game elements, aiming to enrich the mobility rehabilitation experience, making it more accessible, efficient, and stimulating for patients. The approach integrates a serious game into the lower limb motion capture system installed on a treadmill, establishing an interactive environment that combines walking training to boost physical rehabilitation. The system was initially validated with twelve volunteers in varied tasks, offering different levels of autonomy when interacting with the treadmill. The control strategy was evaluated through the SUS questionnaire, indicating a high acceptability index. The results demonstrate the treadmill’s adaptability to the individuals’ speed, promoting its use in conjunction with serious games, enhancing the user experience without increasing complexity. Further investigating the effects of autonomy in relation to the user, another aspect addressed in the study, highlighted the affective responses during the serious game of treadmill walking controlled by feedback. With this, it was shown that autonomy in this context favors affective responses, although no differences were observed in various metrics between experiments. However, participants perceived one of the experiments to be more challenging. In conclusion, the integration of serious games and the consideration of autonomy in walking training systems offer a promising approach to improve physical rehabilitation, providing a more engaging and adaptable experience for users.
