Targeting Muscular Dystrophy with Serious Games for Exercise Rehabilitation Based on Mixed Reality

Rehabilitation for patients with muscle dystrophy is based on performing a lifelong program of regular exercise in coordination with the therapist. However, traditional physiotherapy can be repetitive and boring, which can lead to frustration. In recent years, Serious Games for Exercise Rehabilitation (SGER) have shown promise in making these repetitive tasks more engaging. This paper targets how Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) can be used to create fun and motivating SGER. The development process was supported by a rehabilitation team in a neuromuscular research-clinical center responsible for muscle dystrophy treatment. Therefore, medical knowledge comes from clinicians, including a doctor, with the goal of designing immersive environments that encourage therapeutic movements by playing. Based on VR and AR, 15 mini-games were designed to replace traditional rehabilitation exercises, focusing on improving upper limb movement and adaptability to different types of muscle dystrophy. These games were tested with 15 patients in the presence of a doctor to acquire feedback. The results show that the patients were satisfied with the games specifically chosen for their type of disease. With future improvements, those games can be improved and integrated into the therapy plan. This work provides a foundation for the use of game-based systems in realworld rehabilitation.