Fitness game for the physically impaired

Modern IT has the potential to make fitness training more varied for people with physical limitations. But what exactly is required? Fraunhofer put this question to thalidomide victims, and developed new IT-based fitness training technology in close collaboration with them. The method motivates users with elements found in computer games.

A test subject rocks her upper body from left to right. She rotates her shoulders in little circles. Suddenly she cries out: “Did it! New record!” She has just beaten her personal best in a computer adventure. But this is no ordinary video game flickering on the tablet computer’s screen in front of her: Behind all the excitement is a new kind of fitness tool for the physically impaired. The game’s required movements help the woman exercise motor functions, train concentration and coordination, and improve fitness and stamina. 'She controlled her on-screen avatar with the movements of her upper body and the aid of our smart shoulder pad,' says Andreas Huber, scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen. Fitted inside the pad are small sensors that record each movement of the test subject and wirelessly transmit them via Bluetooth to the tablet on the table in front of her, where software processes all the data and relays it to her avatar.

Huber’s shoulder pad is part of the akrobatik@home project. Other elements of the IT-based fitness game, which was created by the firm Exozet Berlin, include a special seat cushion developed by project partner GeBioM for controlling the game by means of weight shifts, voice controls from the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS that enable users to navigate through the game’s menu, and a video communication system from the company Bravis that allows users to interact via webcams. 'Nearly fifty percent of adults in Germany suffer from physical impairments of a temporary or permanent nature, whether as result of accidents, injuries or illnesses,' observes Huber. Under the motto 'The New Future of Old Age', the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is sponsoring research projects for technical solutions – such as akrobatik@home – that help and enable people to be physically active.

Research in collaboration with users

'Our project is not just about developing innovative technology, but about starting with concrete needs,' says Karolina Mizera, who coordinates the project centrally from the Center for Responsible Research and Innovation in Berlin, which belongs to the Stuttgart-based Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO. 'The prototypes were created in conjunction with people who know very well what it means to live with physical limitations: thalidomide victims.' These volunteers were willing to share their personal strategies for coping with the challenges of everyday life and to develop ideas for technical assistance systems together with Fraunhofer researchers on that basis. Some of them are missing limbs as a result of damage caused by the drug thalidomide, while others suffer from hearing impairments. 'These specific disabilities led to concrete ideas,' explains Mizera. Three ideas were implemented by the researchers together with the thalidomide victims, Heidelberg University, and physiotherapists from Reha-Zentrum Lübben rehab center: The 'e-bag', an application for tablet computers that makes it easy for users to show their tickets on buses and trains, a mobile signaler that enables communication with hearing-impaired people even when they are out of sight, and finally akrobatik@home, the largest of the three projects.

To read the whole article visit:

http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2015/february/fitness-game-for-the-physically-impaired.html

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