NEAR Exergame

What it does

NEAR Exergame enhances stroke rehabilitation experience and reduces dropout using a cost-effective force plate-based gaming system. It provides real-time feedback and tracks progress with an AI model, motivating patients and improve treatment efficacy.

Your inspiration

The inspiration for NEAR Exergame came from personal experiences with family members who suffered from strokes. They often struggle with costly private rehabilitation and the boring nature of rehabilitation. These challenges sparked the idea for a solution that could make rehabilitation more enjoyable and effective without the high costs. We aimed to create a system that combines the motivational aspects of gaming with force plate technology to predict recovery outcomes and track progress.

How it works

The system features a force plate that detects the patient's body movements and center of pressure changes. This force plate connects to a PC/laptop via Bluetooth, where patients control a the game avatars shifting their body weight. The game provides real-time feedback through scores and sounds, motivating patients with instant results. Integrated with an AI prognosis model, NEAR Exergame tracks and analyzes patient progress, offering insights into their recovery. The game’s difficulty adjusts to each patient's abilities using our AI model, ensuring challenges are appropriate and encouraging consistent engagement. By combining fun gameplay with progress tracking and adaptive challenges, NEAR Exergame enhances the rehabilitation experience, making it more effective and motivating for stroke survivors.

Design process

We started our design process with a lower limb rehabilitation device, knowing that helping stroke patients regain walking ability is crucial. This initial prototype allowed gameplay during lower limb exercises, aiming to make rehabilitation engaging. However, small clinical trials revealed that playing games using lower limbs was challenging, and the device was too bulky and not portable. Based on further research, we found that the trunk plays a significant role in balance and walking. Recognizing that force plates are commonly used in stroke rehabilitation to assess balance, we decided to combine them with interactive games to create an engaging solution with predictive capabilities. Our second prototype incorporated custom force plates measuring the center of pressure from trunk movements, which controlled an avatar in the game. This data was fed into an AI model to predict recovery outcomes, generating reports for caregivers and patients. Today, our NEAR Exergame is a user-friendly, portable rehabilitation device ready for plug-and-play with any PC/laptop, allowing for rehabilitation at physio centers and home.

How it is different

Unlike conventional rehabilitation devices that can be expensive and bulky, NEAR Exergame utilizes a cost-effective force plate, making it accessible to a wider range of patients. The system's portable design also allows it to be used in various settings, including homes and rehabilitation centers. This flexibility makes it convenient for users to access rehabilitation exercises without the need for frequent hospital visits. What truly sets NEAR Exergame apart is its AI prognosis model. Our system not only tracks patient progress but also provides detailed insights into their recovery outcomes, allowing for more personalized and effective treatment plans. Additionally, the game's difficulty is dynamically adjusted based on the patient's capabilities, ensuring that each session is neither too easy nor too difficult, thus maintaining optimal engagement and challenge levels.

Future plans

Our next steps include expanding to more stroke survivors to gather more data and validate the effectiveness of NEAR Exergame. We aim to enhance the software with more interactive games and enhance our predictive model. Additionally, we plan to develop NEAR Exergame into a telerehabilitation tool, extending its use to elderly care and other conditions like scoliosis and spinal cord injury. Ultimately, we aim to make NEAR Exergame a standard in rehabilitation, improving the quality of life for patients globally.

Awards

1) Engineering Innovative Design Competition (Enginnovate) 2024 - Champion 2) Pitch at USM 2024 - First Runner Up 3) Innovate Malaysia Excellence Award 2019 (Overall Champion) 4) Innovate Malaysia Design Competition 2019 (SAS Track Champion) 5) IMDC 2019 DreamCatcher Best Demo Video Award