Serious Games Are Not Serious Enough for Myoelectric Prosthetics

Garske, Christian Alexander; Dyson, Matthew; Dupan, Sigrid; Morgan, Graham; Nazarpour, Kianoush

Abstract

Serious games show a lot of potential for use in movement rehabilitation (eg, after a stroke, injury to the spinal cord, or limb loss). However, the nature of this research leads to diversity both in the background of the researchers and in the approaches of their investigation. Our close examination and categorization of virtual training software for upper limb prosthetic rehabilitation found that researchers typically followed one of two broad approaches: (1) focusing on the game design aspects to increase engagement and muscle training and (2) concentrating on an accurate representation of prosthetic training tasks, to induce task-specific skill transfer. Previous studies indicate muscle training alone does not lead to improved prosthetic control without a transfer-enabling task structure. However, the literature shows a recent surge in the number of game-based prosthetic training tools, which focus on engagement without heeding the importance of skill transfer. This influx appears to have been strongly influenced by the availability of both software and hardware, specifically the launch of a commercially available acquisition device and freely available high-profile game development engines. In this Viewpoint, we share our perspective on the current trends and progress of serious games for prosthetic training.

Citation

Garske, C. A., Dyson, M., Dupan, S., Morgan, G., & Nazarpour, K. (2021). Serious Games Are Not Serious Enough for Myoelectric Prosthetics. JMIR Serious Games, 9(4), Article e28079. https://doi.org/10.2196/28079

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 25, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 8, 2021
• Publication Date: Nov 8, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2024
• Journal: JMIR Serious Games
• Publisher: JMIR Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: e28079
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/28079
• Keywords: rehabilitation; serious games; engagement; transfer; upper limb; arm prosthesis; virtual training; virtual games
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1874799