Rebuilding Skills Through Collaborative Virtual Reality Drawing: A New Path for Stroke Recovery

Conventional rehabilitation methods for stroke rehabilitation face limitations in keeping stroke survivors motivated due to their repetitive and monotonous nature. This lack of engagement can result in physical setbacks and social isolation, as survivors frequently undergo rehabilitation alone, disconnected from others. These isolated experiences further diminish their enthusiasm to continue with therapy, hindering overall recovery. This paper proposes a multi-user Virtual Reality (VR) framework designed for stroke rehabilitation, centering on an immersive drawing experience. The collaborative virtual setting is also designed to encourage participants to perform specific gestures during drawing activities to facilitate upper-limb rehabilitation, with the ultimate goal of enhancing both physical and mental well-being. Additionally, the framework provides healthcare professionals the ability to observe survivors in real time, enabling to modify the rehabilitation process when necessary. This ensures that they can offer immediate support, fostering an encouraging atmosphere for participants immersed in the collaborative drawing sessions. The framework followed a Human-Centered Design (HCD) methodology, incorporating feedback from stroke survivors and healthcare professionals at a rehabilitation center. We conducted an initial user study at the center involving 10 participants, and the results indicate that the collaborative drawing experience fosters motivation, social interaction, and engagement. Furthermore, the drawing techniques were found to be appropriate for stroke survivors, with participants reporting low physical effort, highlighting the framework's suitability for the target population.