Background & Aims

Health policies can be optimized with the use of novel extended reality technologies. We present SHARESPACE, a hybrid, multimodal-multisensory platform that supports physical rehabilitation in low back pain. SHARESPACE aims to address important challenges like improving access to interventions and more personalized treatments. SHARESPACE aims to allow patients to follow physical rehabilitation in the shape of group therapy sessions from the comfort of their homes.
SHARESPACE is funded by the European Union Horizon Europe Research program: www.sharespace.eu. It is coordinated by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and partners belong to twelve universities, tech companies, hospitals, and other institutions from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Cyprus, Austria, and UK. The consortium includes experts in chronic pain, physical rehabilitation, psychology, clinical trials, extended reality, animation, AI, ethics, motor control, and synchronization.

Methods

We conducted a usability study (acceptabilit and easy of use of the extended reality (XR) platform) in rehabilitation sessions at a public hospital. Twenty experts working in low back pain will use the SHARESPACE platform and give ratings about usability, presence and side effects: System Usability Scale (Brooke, 1996), Virtual Embodiment Questionnaire (Roth & Latoschik, 2020). Virtual Human Interaction Lab Presence Scale (VHIL Presence Scale; Han, et al., 2022), Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ, Kennedy et al., 1993).
The procedure is as follows: in the XR shared space, experts (users) and a physical therapist are represented by avatars. The patient is at home and immersed in a VR-space with the help of a friendly-use Head Mounted Display and body sensors to capture sensorimotor primitives. The data captured by the sensors is then reconstructed making it possible to represent all the people in the shared virtual space by avatars and give feedback about the performance.

Results

We present the results of a usability study, focusing on the usability and acceptability evaluated by chronic pain experts (rehabilitation doctors, physical therapists, nurses, psychologists) of incorporating the use of an XR platform in the rehabilitation sessions at a public hospital.

Conclusions

The results of this usability study with physical therapists and other experts (rehabilitation doctors, psychologists, nurses) will guide the following steps in the development of the SHARESPACE platform and the exploration of the effectiveness and clinical utility of the XR platform in a feasibility study with low back pain patients attending a rehabilitation unit in a public hospital in Spain.

References

Ahn, S.J. (2011). Embodied Experiences in Immersive Virtual Environments: Effects on Pro-Environmental Attitude and Behavior. (Doctoral dissertation). Stanford University
Bailenson, J.N., Blascovich, J., Beall, A.C., & Loomis, J.M. (2001). Equilibrium theory revisited: Mutual gaze and personal space in virtual environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 10. 583-598.
Bailenson, J.N., & Yee, N. (2006). A longitudinal study of task performance, head movements, subjective report, simulator sickness, and transformed social interaction in collaborative virtual environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15(6).
Brooke, J. (1996). SUS: a “quick and dirty? usability scale. In B. A. In P.W.Jordan, B. Thomas & and I. L. M. Weerdmeester (Eds.), Usability Evaluation in Industry (pp. 189–194). Taylor and Francis.
Dubey, R., & Griffiths, T. L. (2020). Reconciling novelty and complexity through a rational analysis of curiosity. Psychological Review, 127(3), 455–476. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000175
Feng, M., & Bourazzouq, D. (2021). The effects of techno-stress in the role stress context applied on the proximity manager performance: Conceptual development and empirical validation. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 33(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.4018/JOEUC.2021010101
Han, E., Miller, M., Ram, N., Nowak, K., and Bailenson, J.N. (2022). Understanding group behavior in Virtual Reality: A Large-Scale, Longitudinal Study in the Metaverse. 72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference. Paris, France.
Kennedy, R. S., Lane, N. E., Berbaum, K. S., and Lilienthal, M. G. (1993). Simulator sickness questionnaire: An enhanced method for quantifying simulator sickness. Int. J. Aviat. Psychol. 3, 203–220. doi: 10.1207/s15327108ijap0303_3
Kreijns, K., Bijker,.M., & Weidlich, J. (2020). A Rasch analysis approach to the development and validation of a social presence measure. In M. S. Khine (Ed.), Rasch measurement: Applications in quantitative educational research (Chapter 11). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1800-3.
Roth, D., & Latoschik, M. E. (2020). Construction of the Virtual Embodiment Questionnaire (VEQ). IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 26(12), 3546–3556. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2020.3023603
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory. Basic psychological needs in motivation, development and wellness. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Short, J., Williams, E. & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. London: Wiley.
Tubach, F., Ravaud, P., Beaton, D., Boers, M., Bombardier, C., Felson, D. T., van der Heijde, D., Wells, G., Dougados, M. (2007). Minimal clinically important improvement and patient acceptable symptom state for subjective outcome measures in rheumatic disorders. Journal of Rheumatology, 34, 1188-1193.

Presenting Author

Azucena Garcia-Palacios

Poster Authors

Azucena Garcia-Palacios

PhD

Universitat Jaume I. Spain

Lead Author

E-mail

Anna Server Salva PhD

MD

Vall d'Hebron University Hospital

Lead Author

E-mail

Francisco Medel Rebollo MD

Vall d'Hebron University Hospital

Lead Author

E-mail

Benoît Bardy

EuroMov, University of Montpellier

Lead Author

E-mail

Didier Stricker

EngD

German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)

Lead Author

E-mail

Topics

  • Specific Pain Conditions/Pain in Specific Populations: Low Back Pain