Augmented Reality Gait Training

Gait impairment is one of the main complaints of Parkinson's disease patients. A typical moderately advanced PD patient walks slowly with shuffling steps, reduced stride length and velocity and experiences episodes of freezing. Research has shown that short-term improvement in gait can be attained using visual cues such as solid lines placed perpendicular to the patient's walking path or by having the patient walk on black and white tiles. Such cues can enable a PD patient to walk with near normal stride and velocity, however, the carry over effect is limited and placing lines along the patient's path is not a practical daily solution to solving gait problems.

In an attempt to solve the practical issues of visual cueing, researchers have turned to virtual reality technology with some success.In this technology the patient wears specially made glasses that project visual cues into the patient's visual field while at the same time allowing the patient to see where he/she is going. In the case of the Virtual Walker augmented reality glasses, audio feedback is also generated based on the patient's steps and other motions as he/she walks.

By combining motion detector input from inside the device and sophisticated programming, the patient's own walking motion produces audio tones that the patient can hear on the built-in headphones. These tones stimulate the patient to alter his or her walking motion. In clinical studies of this device the average improvement in stride length and gait velocity was 20-30% and 70-85% of patients who used the device show improvement. Furthermore, in some patients this improvement persisted for up to a week after training. Use of the Vitual Walker combined with more traditional forms of gait and balance training may have the potential to significantly improve gait and thus overall quality of life in the PD patient.