Development and pilot test of a virtual reality system for electric powered wheelchair simulation

Upper limb disorders may impair the use of control interfaces for Electric Powered Wheelchairs (EPW), such as joysticks, for many individuals with disabilities. The aims of this study were to develop and test a virtual wheelchair driving environment that can provide quantifiable measures of driving ability, offer driver training, and measure the performance of alternative controls. This work introduces UFES's SimCadRoM, a virtual reality (VR) system for EPW driving training purposes and testing of control interfaces. It uses a real EPW and a VR headset, making the system very immersive. Some tests were conducted to compare the VR experience and driving performance, with a real EPW driving experience and performance, and the results showed that there is no significant difference between the mean elapsed times along real paths and the virtual ones in the performed pilot test. The Igroup presence questionnaire (IPQ) revealed high values of G1 and SP factors, which are a clear manifestation of presence as the "sense of being there". The INV and REAL factors also presented good indicators of the presence experience's attention component and reality comparison between driving the virtual EPW and the real one.