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Empowering stroke recovery through virtual reality
With support from Research Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Health, we developed an affordable, home-based virtual reality (VR) neurorehabilitation system designed to make stroke recovery more accessible and effective.
Our system reduces motor impairment within the virtual environment, enabling users to fully engage in tasks and experience success. This approach helps minimize frustration and allows for more personalized therapy—even for individuals with significant physical limitations.
Beyond developing physical rehabilitation solutions, our research explores how psychological factors within the VR experience can be optimized to boost engagement and therapeutic outcomes. By combining portability, affordability, and psychological insight, our goal is to expand access to high-quality post-stroke therapy for home-bound individuals, long-term care residents, rural communities, and those facing financial barriers to ongoing physiotherapy.
Project collaborators:
Acadia University
Rhodes College
Kyla Harris, NP
Kyla Harris, NP
Valley Regional Hospital (Kentville, NS)
Related work:
Fisk, A., *Fox, S., *Floyd, J., & Blustein, D.(2025). Feasibility of Low-Cost Virtual Reality Motor Amplification for Stroke Rehabilitation. medRxiv Preprint, DOI:10.1101/2024.08.23.24312233
*Fox, S., Fisk, A., & Blustein, D. (2025). Comparison of informational and experiential interventions for VR acceptance in rural older adults: a feasibility study. PsyArXiv Preprint, DOI:10.31234/osf.io/mafrs_v5
*Vyakhirev, D., *Parsons, K., Tsao, J., Williams (Sanders), B., & Blustein, D. (2019). Evaluation of Low Cost Embodiment with Virtual Avatars. ACM Symposium on Applied Perception. Barcelona (poster).
*student author
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