Quantification de l'effet d'un retour visuel immersif et non-immersif sur la biomécanique de la propulsion en utilisant un simulateur haptique de fauteuil roulant manuel

Abstract

Our team developed a haptic simulator capable of reproducing friction between the floor and a manual wheelchair (MW). The simulator enables the study of stationary manual propulsion in a laboratory environment. However, propelling on the haptic simulator without receiving visual feedback makes it impossible to orient oneself or to judge traveled distances. Hence, propulsion technique observed on the simulator was potentially different from what was seen in reality. A virtual environment (VE) replicating a real hallway was developed in order to compare propulsion sequences captured in reality and on the simulator. The main objective of this project was to quantify the effect of an immersive and a non-immersive virtual environment on manual propulsion on a haptic simulator. Twelve able-bodied participants with little to no experience in MW propulsion propelled in a real environment and on the simulator. Participants completed a total of 22 propulsion sequences on a linear course and on a curvilinear course. Participants propelled on the simulator with 3 conditions: without a VE, with a VE displayed on a TV screen and with a VE displayed through a head-mounted display (HMD). Handrim kinetics, push angles, Mz’s coefficient of variability and propulsion symmetry were the propulsion parameters that were analyzed in order to compare the different propulsion conditions. Results show differences that were sometimes significant between the propulsion technique observed on the simulator with a VE displayed on a TV screen and the propulsion technique observed in reality. These differences were more important for the both the vertical forces applied to the handrim and for push angles. This shows that participants were less using their trunks while propelling on the simulator. The VE displayed in a HMD brought these propulsion parameters closer to those observed in reality. This effect was observed for both the linear and the curvilinear courses. In summary, results from this study show that propulsion technique on the simulator is not brought closer to what is seen in reality by adding a VE displayed on a TV screen. However, certain propulsion parameters on the simulator were brought closer to the ones seen in reality by adding a VE displaying in a HMD. Future experimentations could be done with newer HMDs that can display the VE with a better resolution and larger field of view in order to test if the propulsion technique on the simulator can be brought even closer to reality. Furthermore, future experiments could be done with MW propulsion experts in order to compare the results with the present study.

Date	7 Dec 2017
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	David Labbé (Supervisor) & Rachid Aissaoui (Co-supervisor)