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The use of augmented reality (AR) environments to treat small animal phobias is an alternative to traditional in vivo exposure treatments that allow supporting the therapy through the virtual, gradual and controlled exposure of the patient to the animal to which he/she is afraid. In this paper, we compare three different AR tools used in exposure therapy for spider phobia with thirty users; namely, a mobile haptic AR system, an immersive AR environment, and a non-immersive AR environment. An in vivo (direct) interaction with a real spider was also used as a reference during the comparison. To compare these four conditions, each subject participated in an exposure therapy session using all of them. The perception of usefulness and experience of use of each of the tools were evaluated using a Technology Acceptance Model on-exit questionnaire and the results were obtained through indirect observation analysis. The results showed that there are no significant differences regarding the perception of usefulness among the three applications and that the haptic AR system generated the least discomforting experience of use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of serious games, those not intended for leisure, out of their intended context may have consequences for evoked engagement and for the facilitation of transversal reutilization of developed games. However, the effectiveness and usability of serious games out of their intended context must be questioned. Here, we present two case studies in virtual rehabilitation. In a first experiment, a classical leisure game (i.e. pong) is compared in its ability to propose a valid alternative to games specifically developed for virtual rehabilitation use in terms of compliance with principles required in motor rehabilitation such as movement repetition, feedback, task significance and motivation. The second experiment explores the complementary situation in which a virtual rehabilitation game set is exported as a plausible tool for the cognitive stimulation of elders. Not unexpectedly, our results suggest that transfer of games across realms is, in some cases, a feasible enterprise but their effectiveness and usability may be compromised. In particular, we found that importing pong to a virtual rehabilitation environment is not a valid alternative in the sense that it does not obey rehabilitation principles. However, exporting serious games across related domains, i.e. from virtual rehabilitation to cognitive stimulation, has encountered a high degree of acceptance by the receiving community of users, being perceived as useful and easy to use, and we further establish that this acceptance cannot be explained by expertise in using technology. Qualitative assessment of usersÕ responses points to the interaction interface as a co-responsible factor for this acceptance of the serious virtual environment. These findings may have consequences for the future development of serious games both in terms of reusing ideas and alerting about possible difficulties during the migration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: 1) To enhance the content of an ontology for designing virtual environments (VEs) for upper limb motor rehabilitation of stroke patients according to the suggestions and comments of rehabilitation specialists and software developers, 2) to characterize the perceived importance level of the ontology, 3) to determine the perceived usefulness of the ontology, and 4) to identify the safety characteristics of the ontology for VEs design according to the rehabilitation specialists., Methods: Using two semi-structured Web questionnaires, we asked six rehabilitation specialists and six software developers to provide us with their perception regarding the level of importance and the usability of the ontology. From their responses we have identified themes related to perceived and required safety characteristics of the ontology., Results: Significant differences in the importance level were obtained for the Stroke Disability, VE Configuration, Outcome Measures, and Safety Calibration classes, which were perceived as highly important by rehabilitation specialists. Regarding usability, the ontology was perceived by both groups with high usefulness, ease of use, learnability and intention of use. Concerning the thematic analysis of recommendations, eight topics for safety characteristics of the ontology were identified: adjustment of therapy strategies; selection and delimitation of movements; selection and proper calibration of the interaction device; proper selection of measuring instruments; gradual modification of the difficulty of the exercise; adaptability and variability of therapy exercises; feedback according to the capabilities of the patient; and real-time support for exercise training., Conclusions: The rehabilitation specialists and software developers confirmed the importance of the information contained in the ontology regarding motor rehabilitation of the upper limb. Their recommendations highlight the safety features and the advantages of the ontology as a guide for the effective design of VEs.