A Free, Open-Source Virtual Reality Platform for the Rehabilitation of Cognitive and Psychological Disorders

The adoption of Virtual Reality in rehabilitation of cognitive and psychological disorders is limited by high costs of software development, lack of technical expertise among end-users, and the difficulty of adapting the contents of the virtual environments (VEs). In this paper, we describe NeuroVR, (http://www.neurovr.org), a cost-free virtual reality platform based on open-source software components that allows non-expert users to easily customize a VE by using a set of pre-designed virtual scenes, and to run them in an immersive or non-immersive modality. In this paper, we provide a description of the key functional features of the platform.

[1]  G. Optale,et al.  Multimedia and virtual reality techniques in the treatment of male erectile disorders , 1997, International Journal of Impotence Research.

[2]  Francesca Morganti,et al.  Virtual interaction in cognitive neuropsychology , 2004, Cybertherapy.

[3]  Maureen K. Holden,et al.  Virtual Environments for Motor Rehabilitation: Review , 2005, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[4]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  The use of VR in the treatment of Eating Disorders , 2004, Cybertherapy.

[5]  Albert A. Rizzo,et al.  Development of a VR therapy application for Iraq war military personnel with PTSD. , 2005, Studies in health technology and informatics.

[6]  Patrice L Weiss,et al.  Virtual reality training for stroke rehabilitation. , 2006, NeuroRehabilitation.

[7]  C. Pull.  Current status of virtual reality exposure therapy in anxiety disorders: editorial review. , 2005, Current opinion in psychiatry.

[8]  A. Rizzo,et al.  Virtual Reality and Neuropsychology: Upgrading the Current Tools , 2002, The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation.

[9]  Sabha Ganai,et al.  Virtual-reality training improves angled telescope skills in novice laparoscopists. , 2007, American journal of surgery.

[10]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  Virtual Reality in Psychotherapy: Review , 2005, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[11]  Albert A. Rizzo,et al.  Virtual reality and cognitive assessment and rehabilitation: the state of the art. , 1997, Studies in health technology and informatics.

[12]  Gianluca Castelnuovo,et al.  The Sense of Presence in Virtual Training: Enhancing Skills Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge through Learning Experience in Virtual Environments , 2003 .

[13]  M. Tarr,et al.  Virtual reality in behavioral neuroscience and beyond , 2002, Nature Neuroscience.