Wii Components Help Create Balance Training System
From: Rice University - 04/07/2011
By: Mike Williams

A team of Rice University undergraduates has combined the appeal of the Wii
video game system with the utility of a computerized motion-tracking system
that can enhance the progress of patients at Shriners Hospital for
Children-Houston. The Wii Balance Boards, which are lined up between
handrails, are designed to encourage patients who are ages 6 to 18 to
practice their balance skills in an electronic gaming environment. The active
handrails, which provide feedback on how heavily patients depend on their
arms, are a unique feature. 

Many of the children targeted for this project have cerebral palsy, spina
bifida, or amputations. Using the relatively inexpensive game console
components improves the potential of this system to become a cost-effective
addition to physical therapy departments in the future. 

A further step, not yet implemented, would be to program feedback from the
handrails into the game. Leaning on the rails would subtract points from the
users' scores and thereby encourage them to improve their postures. The game
would also present challenges specific to younger and older children to keep
them engaged. 

Read the entire article at:
http://ims8.lyris.net/t/6951467/337878574/33777/0/

Links:
Trek Tracker
Students come through for Shriners with gait-analysis tool

Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
http://oedk.rice.edu/