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A virtual step forward
New virtual reality technology offers hope to children with
co-ordination disorders
by Patty Pitts
Walking, balancing and maintaining attention
for a reasonable amount of time are skills most children and
adults acquire almost subconsciously and use with minimal
awareness throughout their lives. But for youngsters with
various disabilities, adults recovering from brain injuries,
or elderly individuals with a history of falling, attaining
or recovering these basic skills is difficult.
 Researchers
are hoping the new clusters of computers and infrared cameras
studding the walls and ceiling of a room in the Queen Alexandra
Centre for Children’s Health will help. This new generation
of technology is creating excitement among the team of UVic
specialists and centre clinicians who constitute the Centre
for Human Movement Analysis (CHUMA).
“Use of sophisticated movement tracking
systems in concert with virtual reality equipment that can
simulate various environments and settings is just starting
to be applied to rehabilitation,” says Dr. Naznin Virji-Babul
(psychology). “This technology has tremendous potential
to play a role in assessment, training and rehabilitation
of individuals with cognitive impairments and functional disabilities.”
Virji-Babul will use the equipment in collaboration
with Drs. Kimberly Kerns and Catherine Mateer (psychology)
and the centre’s Lynn Purves to work with children with
various developmental disorders to determine how distractions
impact balance and movement coordination.
When kids wear the helmet-like equipment
they’re plunged into a ‘virtual’ classroom.
Looking to one side reveals someone coming through a door.
Looking the other way offers a view out the window where a
car drives by. During the initial studies children will stand
on a platform that also produces data on how much the child
sways during distraction or attempts at concentration. Clinicians
and researchers can control the virtual setting and can record
subsequent responses after the child participates in different
rehabilitation exercises to measure their effectiveness.
CHUMA, a partnership among the centre, UVic
and the Down Syndrome Research Foundation, will primarily
be using the new technology to assist children with movement
difficulties. Computer-sensitive ‘markers’ worn
by youngsters collect data on any movement such as walking,
running and reaching for objects. A computer makes various
calculations and compares the data to normal movement.
Children with cerebral palsy and Aspergers
syndrome, developmental co-ordination disorder and Down syndrome
may also benefit from the new technology. The CHUMA team,
involving kinesiologists, psychologists, biophysicists, engineers,
pediatricians and therapists, represents diverse skills and
a shared interest — helping children acquire the skills
most youngsters take for granted.
Patty Pitts photo
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