Virtual Reality Goes to War and Beyond: Innovations in VR and Interactive Technology for Advancing Civilian Behavioral Healthcare (Albert “Skip” Rizzo PhD and Bruno Biagianti MD). 

The physical, emotional, cognitive and psychological demands of war place enormous stress on even the best-prepared military personnel. The urgency of war, combined with significant advances in low-cost consumer technology has driven the development of Virtual Reality and Interactive Technology applications for clinical research and intervention. Part 1 of this workshop will present an overview of the research, development and implementation of Virtual Reality and Interactive Technology applications that have been applied in the prevention, assessment, treatment and scientific understanding of the psychological wounds of war. This talk will conclude with a discussion of how the urgency of war has driven clinical system development that will soon have significant impact on civilian behavioral healthcare needs. Part 2 of this workshop will focus on a range of interactive technology applications that address the challenging cognitive and social needs of schizophrenics. This work uses web-based, IPad and mobile systems to improve the efficacy and dissemination of clinical and research applications. The workshop will conclude with a general discussion with the presenters and workshop participants as to how recent advances in VR and Interactive Systems (in some cases driven by military funding) can be now be translated to address the needs of civilian behavioral healthcare. Demonstrations of some of the systems discussed (VR PTSD Exposure Therapy, SimCoach, BrainHQ) will also be available for the participants to experience.

PLATFORM SESSION I: COGNITIVE & PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES
(Chairs: Nicoleta Bugneriu, Evelyne Klinger)

Navigating and shopping in a complex virtual urban mall to evaluate cognitive functions.   Samir Sangani, Joyce Fung, Racheli Kizony, Sebastian Koenig, Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss

Pilot results from a virtual reality executive function task. Denise Krch, Olga Nikelspur, Silvio Lavrador, Nancy Chiaravalloti, Sebastian Koenig, Albert “Skip” Rizzo

Effect of age on performance of task with spatial conflict. Rita Patterson, Robert Longnecker, Janice Knebl, Nicoleta Bugnariu

Virtual Reality Daily Living Activities Functional Impairment as a defining feature of amnestic MCI: cognitive, psychomotor, and neurophysiological correlates. Ioannis Tarnanas, Christos Mouzakidis, Winfried Schlee

Technology-enhanced multimodal meditation to treat stress-related symptoms: Clinical results from an observational case series. Henry Moller, Harjot Bal

Controlled trial for criminal violence PTSD in Mexico. Georgina Cardenas-Lopez 

PLATFORM SESSION II: PEDIATRICS 
(Chairs: Assaf Dvorkin, Gerry Fluet)

Effect of training children with Developmental Coordination Disorders in a virtual environment compared with a conventional environment. Tal Ashkenazi, Daniel Orian, Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss, Yocheved Laufer

Motor Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Nicoleta Bugnairu, Carolyn Garver, Coen de Weerd, Edwin van Loon, Carolyn Young, Robert Longnecker, Katelyn Rockenbach, Ritta Patterson

Human-robot interaction as a tool to evaluate and quantify motor imitation behavior in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Nicoleta Bugnairu, Carolyn Young, Katelyn Rockenbach, Rita Patterson, Carolyn Garver, Monica Beltran, Isura Ranatunga, Nahum Torres Arenas, Dan Popa

PLATFORM SESSION III: VISION & LANGUAGE
(Chairs: Anouk Lamontagne, Nadine Martin)

Perceptual abilities in case of low vision, using a virtual reality environment. Evelyne Klinger, Yasmine Boumenir, Corinne Mury, Nadège Suire, Pierric Aubin, Abdelmajid Kadri

Integrating face-to-face language therapy with virtual reality applications for persons with aphasia. Jacqueline Stark, Christiane Pons, Csaba Dániel

Environment for contrast-based treatment of amblyopia using 3D technology. Andrea Vitali, Giancarlo Facoetti, Angelo Michele Gargantini

PLATFORM SESSION IV:  INTERVENTION FOR ADULT REHABILITATION
(Chairs: Cali Fidopiastis, Mindy Levin)

Evaluation of a tele-health system for upper extremity stroke rehabilitation. Rachel Kizony, Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss, Orit Elion, Sharon Harel, Ilanit Baum-Cohen, Yoram Feldman, Mordechai Shani

Virtual reality game–based therapy for patients with TBI: Potential for telerehabilitation. Ksenia Ustinova, Janice Perkins, Wesley Leonard, Christopher Ingersoll

Low-cost virtual rehabilitation games: House of Quality to meet patient expectations. Vincent Crocher, Pilwon Hur, Na Jin Seo

Feasibility study of a new game-based bimanual integrative therapy. Grigore (Greg) Burdea, Caulin Defais, Kevin Wong, John Bartos, Jasdeep Hundal

The use of the iPad for poststroke hand rehabilitation; a pilot study. Debbie Rand, Tamara Schejter-Margalit, Israel Dudkiewicz, Gabi Zeilig, Racheli Kizony

Sensorimotor training in virtual environments produces similar outcomes to real world training with greater efficiency. Gerald Fluet, Alma Merians, Qinyin Qiu, Sergei Adamovich

PLATFORM SESSION V: YOUNG INNOVATORS SPEAKER SERIES (PART I)
(Chairs: Maria Schultheis, Geoff Wright)

Contribution of perceptual and locomotor factors to moving obstacle collisions in persons with visuospatial neglect.  Gayatri Aravind, Anouk Lamontagne

Intensity of shoulder muscle activation during resistive exercises performed with and without virtual reality games.  Brittney Mazzone, Lisa Lighthall Haubert, S Mulroy, M Gotsis, Belinda Lange, V Lympouridis, R Profitt, Carolee Winstein, Philip Requejo

Self-awareness rehabilitation through a multi-touch virtual game board after acquired brain injury.  Roberto Lloréns, Mariano Alcañiz, María Dolores Navarro, Joan Ferri, Enrique Noé

Post-stroke maintenance therapy using virtual reality and a novel vibrating brace: a case study.  Akhilesh Maddali, Grigore (Greg) Burdea

Influence of peripheral and stereoscopic vision on driving performance in a power wheelchair simulator system.  Abdulaziz Alshaer, Simon Hoermann, Holger Regenbrecht

A virtual integrated environment for phantom limb pain treatment and modular prosthetic limb training.  Briana N. Perry, Robert S. Armiger, Michael J. Zeher, Aimee L.Alphonso, Courtney W.Moran, Paul F. Pasquina, Jack W.Tsao

POSTER SESSION and DEMOS with coffee/dessert 

Virtual Clinicians for the Treatment of Aphasia and Speech Disorders. Gregory Teodoro, Nadine Martin, Emily Keshner, Alex Rudnicky, Justin Shi

Spatial navigation in the presence of dynamic obstacles in a virtual environment. Anuja Darekar, Valery Goussev, Bradford James McFadyen, Anouk Lamontagne, Joyce Fung

Augmented Feedback for Learning Single-Legged Stance on a Slackline. Jan Anlauff, Joyce Fung, Jeremy Jeremy

Evaluation of a virtual reality rehabilitation system for upper limb hemiparesis. Gordon Tao, Philippe Archambault, Mindy Levin

Visual feedback during treadmill walking improves balance for older adults: a preliminary report. Eric Anson, Tippawan O-phartkaruna, Tim Kiemel, John Jeka

Effects of Visual Field Immersion and Sub-Threshold Plantar Vibration on Balance. Sara Snell, Rania Al Majid, Emily Keshner

Development and evaluation of movement recognition techniques for interactive rehabilitations support systems. Alana Elza Fontes Da Gama, Thiago Menezes Chaves, Lucas Silva Figueiredo, Veronica Teichrieb

Development of a low-cost, adaptive, clinician-friendly virtual rehabilitation system. Meghan Huber, Miriam Leeser, Dagmar Sternad

Stepping Games on Dance Mat for Motor Rehabilitation. Volodymyr Kozyavkin, Bohdan Kachmar, Oleksandr Terletskyy, Oleh Kachmar, Iryna Ablikova

Visualization of Virtual Reality Neurological Motor Rehabilitation of the Upper Limb – A Systematic Review. Luara Ferreira dos Santos, Henning Schmidt, Jörg Krüger, Christian Dohle

Architecture for Controling Upper Limb Prosthesis using Brainwaves. Kenedy Lopes Nogueira, A. Souza, A. Lamounier, A. Cardoso,  A. B. Soares

A research protocol exploring the use of haptic forces for stroke rehabilitation. Gianluca U. Sorrento, Philippe S. Archambault, Joyce Fung

Altering dynamic patterns in gait using visual and proprioceptive stimuli. Matthew Wittstein, Christopher Rhea

Abstract virtual environment for motor rehabilitation of stroke patients with upper limb dysfunction. A pilot study. Thomas Schüler, Sonja Drehlmann, Friederike Kane, Harry von Piekartz

Spatial memory in virtual arena. Iveta Fajnerova, Mabel Rodriguez, Kamil Vlček

Virtual Rehabilitation in Women Post Breast Cancer: Case Study. Clarissa Camargo, Guilherme Cavalheiro, Izabela Mendes Alexandre, Edgard Lamounier, Adriano Andrade, Fernanda Lima, Mário Lima

Deficits in obstacle avoidance behaviour in individuals with good arm recovery after stroke. Melanie Banina, Aditi Mullick, Mindy Levin

Cognitive impairments and use of feedback for arm motor recovery in stroke. Sandeep Subramanian, Gevorg Chilingaryan, Heidi Sveistrup, Mindy Levin

Motor learning of the upper limb in children with Cerebral Palsy after virtual and physical training intervention. Maxime Robert, Rhona Guberek, Heidi Sveistrup, Mindy Levin

Using a robotic interface and haptic feedback to improve grip coordination of hand function following stroke – a pilot study. Hamed Kazemi, Robert Kearney, Theodore Milner

Virtual reality based lower extremity exercises for children with cerebral palsy: Preliminary work. Mohammad Al-Amri, Daniel Abásolo, Salim Ghoussayni, David Ewins

Virtual Reality based Double Leg Squat Exercise: Preliminary Study. Mohammad Al-Amri, Paulien Roos, Kate Button, Robert van Deursen

The Effect of Mental Calculation on Stabilization of Posture in a Dynamic Virtual Environment. Orit Elion, Emily A. Keshner

Supporting therapists to integrate virtual reality systems within clinical practice: A knowledge translation study. Danielle Levac, Stephanie Glegg, Heidi Sveistrup

Assessment of Hand Sensory Function with a Wearable Vibrotactile Display. Mathias Bannwart, Pawel Pyk, Kynan Eng, Yeongmi Kim, Roger Gassert

BrightArm™ Therapy for Patients with Advanced Dementia: A Feasibility Study. Grigore (Greg) Burdea, B. Rabin, D. Rethage, F. Damiani, J. S. Hundal, JFK Johnson, C. Fitzpatrick

Can we climb with our eyes? – Preliminary report on the effect of conflicting virtual scenery on leveled and inclined gait Meir Plotnik, Yotam Bahat, Yoav Gimmon, Alon Akiva, Rachel Kizony, Rivka Inzelberg

The Virtual Supermarket: Interactive Educational Tools for Reducing Diabetes Risks. Jose Fernandez, Margaret Murphy, Pankaj Mahajan, Cali Fidopiastis

AGATHE: a tool for personalized rehabilitation of cognitive functions. Evelyne Klinger, Abdelmajid Kardi, Eric Sorita, Jean-Luc Le Guiet, Pauline Coignard, Philippe FUCHS, Nicolas Du Lac, Fabrice Servant, Pierre-Alain Joseph

Postural Rehabilitation through Kinect-Based Biofeedback (Demo). Luca Neri, Giulia Adorante, Elena Franciosi, Gianni Brighetti

Interactive Virtual Reality Game-based Rehabilitation for Stroke Patients (Demo). Nahid Norouzi-Gheidari, Mindy F. Levin, Joyce Fung, Philippe Archambault

Development of a new virtual environment for a power wheelchair simulator: a user-centered approach. Phillipe Archimbault, Gordon Tao, Caryne Torkia, Patrick Boissy, Martin Lemay, Denise Reid, François Routhier, Steve E Ryan, Janet Woodhouse

PLATFORM SESSION VI: YOUNG INNOVATORS SPEAKER SERIES (PART II)
(Chairs: Yochy Laufer, Paul Sharkey)

Quantitative evaluation of the Microsoft Kinect for use in an upper extremity virtual rehabilitation environment. Mason Nixon, Yu-ping Chen, Ayanna Howard            

Pre-planning navigation with virtual environments for people who are blind using WII technology.  Hadas Gedalevitz, Orly Lahav, Steven Battersby, David Brown, Lindsay Evett, Patrick Merritt          

Examining neurocognitive correlates of risky driving behavior in young adults using a simulated driving environment. Anna Graefe, Maria Schultheis                       

Visuo-haptic environment for remediating attention in severe TBI.  Amit Shah, James Patton, Sonia Pacini, Nancy Hsu, Felize Zollman, Eric Larson, Assaf Dvorkin

PLATFORM SESSION VII: LOCOMOTION
(Chairs: Judy Deutsch, Racheli Kizony)

Clinical experience using a 5 week treadmill training program with virtual reality to enhance gait.  Shirley Shema, Marina Brozgol, Moran Dorfman, Inbal Maidan, Orly Wachsler Yannai, Nir Giladi, Jeffrey Hausdorff, Anat Mirelman

Brain regions involved in locomotor steering in a virtual environment. Anita Liu, Richard Hoge, Julien Doyon, Joyce Fung, Anouk Lamontagne   

Improvements in gait speed and weight shift of persons with traumatic brain injury and vestibular dysfunction using a virtual reality computer assisted rehabilitation environment. Pinata Sessoms, Kim Gottshall, John-David Collins, Amanda Markham, Kathrine Service, Seth Reini

Retaining fractal gait patterns learned in virtual environments. Christopher Rhea, Matthew Wittstein, Adam Kiefer, F. Jay Haran          

The influence of virtual reality systems on walking behaviour: A toolset to support application design. Wendy Powell, Brett Stevens

PLATFORM SESSION VIII: CYCLING, BALANCE & POSTURE
(Chairs: Greg Burdea, Joyce Fung)

Path width, path difficulty and optic flow differentially affect young, older adults and individuals post-stroke in a virtual cycling environment.  Venkata Gade, Rosemary Gallagher, Inbal Maidan, Chintan Patel, Judith E Deutsch      

Effect of a secondary task on the time course and specificity on learning a balance skill.  Orit Elion, Itamar Sela, Yotam Bahat, Itzhak Siev-Ner, Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss, Avi Karni

Using virtual reality to induce cross-axis adaptation of postural control: Implications for rehabilitation. W. Geoffrey Wright