Augmented Reality Rehabilitation on Parkinson's gait and balance
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of Augmented Reality Rehabilitation on gait and balance for people with Parkinson's: a pilot study
IRAS ID
351618
Contact name
Julie C Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Robert Gordon University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
People with Parkinson’s (PwP) commonly report walking difficulties. As Parkinson’s progresses walking may become more disabling, causing problems with balance and increased risk of falls. Fear of falling can cause PwP to limit their social activity and ability to undertake everyday tasks. While rehabilitation is commonly recommended, existing rehabilitation programmes are often time limited, requiring PwP to exercise unsupervised at home. Lack of motivation often limits practice and effect. Augmented reality offers a new approach to rehabilitation where users wear special glasses. With the glasses users see and interact with activities and games, which can be tailored to individual need. Users of Augmented reality (AR) rehabilitation engage in functional, skill-based activities independently, in the safety of their own home. The AR rehabilitation approach can set motivational goals and provide user feedback on their task specific performance. If increased repetition of exercises shows improved mobility, motivating users to adhere to a prescribed rehabilitation programme becomes key to successful rehabilitation.
UK-based company, Strolll, have developed Reality DTx®. This is a Class I registered medical software application for wearable AR glasses providing Parkinson’s-specific visual and auditory compensation strategies and gamified rehabilitation exercises. Some previous research demonstrated the positive impact of AR rehabilitation on balance, but limited research has focused on its impact on walking quality in Parkinson’s. The proposed project will assess the potential effect of AR rehabilitation to improve walking and balance in PwP and inform the development of a larger clinical trial.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EE/0094
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jun 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion