Towards Ceramics Inspired Physiotherapy for Recovering Stroke Patients

Abstract

People prescribed physiotherapy exercises can struggle to engage with exercises due to a lack of mental stimulation in the repetitive tasks. The introduction of VR to motion-based physiotherapy can be beneficial, however, currently available physiotherapy applications are focused on gaming and the gamification of physiotherapy, something that will not appeal to all patients. This project presents work in-progress towards a VR ceramics painting inspired physiotherapy application, where patients are guided to perform a series of simple motion exercises under the supervision of physiotherapists. Literature shows that art-based therapy can improve patient outcome, and ceramics involves a range of 3D movements that can be aligned with physiotherapy exercises. The work presented is intended to inform future research and development efforts.