Development of Virtual Reality Game for the Rehabilitation of Upper Limb Control in the Elderly Patients with Stroke
Developments in gaming and entertainment technology seem to flourish with the increasing of thousand applications and software in the market. At the same time, world scenario shows drastically increasing number of older people in majority countries around the world including Malaysia. Elderly as going through ageing process, will face some deterioration effects; for instance physical incapability or stroke. It is therefore, virtual reality game exercise has recently been proposed as having the potential to increase exercise behavior in elderly and to assist in motor rehabilitation especialy with stroke issue. However, most of the VR games in current market are not designed specifically for the ageing population. Therefore, this research aims to propose a virtual reality game that could assist upper limb motor rehabilitation VR game exercise among elderly patient's with stroke. This study involves qualitative methods in collecting data for the verification phase. An interview session with geriatric specialist and physiotherapist were done in order to identify appropriate rehabilitation exercises for stroke elderly patients. Next, ADDIE Model was adopted as development methodology for iVRRehab game which involves five phases; analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. It is strongly recommended that VR game could appears as a promising therapeutic technology for upper limb motor rehabilitation in elderly patient's with stroke. Besides, VR game be able to enhance mood, increasing enjoyment and healthy among elderly.