Capture of Stability and Coordination Indicators in Virtual Training Scenarios for the Prevention of Slip, Trip, and Fall (STF) Accidents

摘要

The aim of the project is to develop and evaluate a training environment for the prevention of falls with the help of an application in virtual reality (VR). The participants of our study walk on a treadmill with fall protection while immersing into a virtual scenario where they should cross virtual obstacles. Potential parameters reflecting the plasticity of the neuromotor system are investigated in order to search for possible learning effects and their stabilization. In addition, it will be determined how many perturbations (i.e. obstacles) are necessary to establish a learning process. The results will be used to check the experimental setup and to prepare a main study for the development of a training program that helps preventing slip, trip, and fall (STF) accidents using a VR environment. So far two pilot measurements have been completed and parameters that may indicate learning effects were calculated. Initial results do not reveal clear learning effects, however, they inform about relevant adjustments for setting up systematic investigations and provide important details about strategies for data acquisition and analysis.