Hollman John H, Brey Robert H, Robb Richard A, Bang Tami J, Kaufman Kenton R
Program in Physical Therapy, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Gait Posture. 2006 Jun;23(4):441-4. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2005.05.005. Epub 2005 Aug 10.
Previous research suggests that postural sway in standing increases in virtual reality (VR) environments. This study was conducted to examine whether gait instability is prevalent when people walk in a VR environment. Ten healthy adults participated in the study. Subjects walked on a treadmill in a VR environment and a non-VR environment at each of three walking speeds: 0.9, 1.1, and 1.3 m/s. In the VR environment, an endless corridor with colored vertical stripes comprising the walls was projected onto a hemispherical screen placed in front of the treadmill. The speed of the moving corridor image was matched to the speed of the treadmill to create the illusion that subjects were walking through the endless corridor. Spatiotemporal data during gait were collected with an instrumented treadmill housing two piezoelectric force platforms. Gait parameters reflective of gait instability (stride length, step width, variability in stride velocity, and variability in step width) were compared between the VR and non-VR environments. Subjects walked in the VR environment with reduced stride lengths (p = 0.001), increased step widths (p = 0.001), and with increased variability in stride velocity (p < 0.001) and step width (p = 0.002). The gait deviations suggest that walking in a VR environment may induce gait instability in healthy subjects.
先前的研究表明，在虚拟现实（VR）环境中站立时的姿势摇摆会增加。本研究旨在检验人们在VR环境中行走时步态不稳是否普遍存在。十名健康成年人参与了该研究。受试者在VR环境和非VR环境中，以三种行走速度（0.9、1.1和1.3米/秒）分别在跑步机上行走。在VR环境中，一个带有彩色垂直条纹墙壁的无尽走廊被投射到放置在跑步机前方的半球形屏幕上。移动走廊图像的速度与跑步机的速度相匹配，以营造出受试者正在穿过无尽走廊的错觉。使用装有两个压电式力平台的仪器化跑步机收集步态期间的时空数据。比较了VR环境和非VR环境中反映步态不稳的步态参数（步长、步宽、步速变异性和步宽变异性）。受试者在VR环境中行走时步长减小（p = 0.001）、步宽增加（p = 0.001）、步速变异性增加（p < 0.001）以及步宽变异性增加（p = 0.002）。步态偏差表明，在VR环境中行走可能会导致健康受试者步态不稳。
