Postgraduate Program in Electrical Engineering, Assistive Technology Center (NTA), Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES), Vitoria 29075-910, Brazil.
Postgraduate Program in Biotechnology, Assistive Technology Center (NTA-UFES), Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES), Vitoria 29047-105, Brazil.
Sensors (Basel). 2020 Jun 24;20(12):3565. doi: 10.3390/s20123565.
For some people with severe physical disabilities, the main assistive device to improve their independence and to enhance overall well-being is an electric-powered wheelchair (EPW). However, there is a necessity to offer users EPW training. In this work, the Simcadrom is introduced, which is a virtual reality simulator for EPW driving learning purposes, testing of driving skills and performance, and testing of input interfaces. This simulator uses a joystick as the main input interface, and a virtual reality head-mounted display. However, it can also be used with an eye-tracker device as an alternative input interface and a projector to display the virtual environment (VE). Sense of presence, and user experience questionnaires were implemented to evaluate this version of the Simcadrom in addition to some statistical tests for performance parameters like: total elapsed time, path following error, and total number of commands. A test protocol was proposed and, considering the overall results, the system proved to simulate, very realistically, the usability, kinematics, and dynamics of a real EPW in a VE. Most subjects were able to improve their EPW driving performance in the training session. Furthermore, all skills learned are feasible to be transferred to a real EPW.
对于一些身体严重残疾的人来说，提高他们独立性和整体幸福感的主要辅助设备是电动轮椅（EPW）。然而，有必要为用户提供 EPW 培训。在这项工作中，引入了 Simcadrom，这是一个用于 EPW 驾驶学习、驾驶技能和性能测试以及输入接口测试的虚拟现实模拟器。该模拟器使用操纵杆作为主要输入接口和虚拟现实头戴式显示器。但是，它也可以与眼动追踪器设备一起用作替代输入接口，并使用投影仪显示虚拟环境（VE）。本研究实施了存在感和用户体验调查问卷，除了一些针对总耗时、路径跟踪误差和总命令数等性能参数的统计测试外，还评估了 Simcadrom 的这个版本。提出了一个测试协议，考虑到整体结果，该系统证明能够非常逼真地模拟真实 EPW 在 VE 中的可用性、运动学和动力学。大多数受试者都能够在培训课程中提高他们的 EPW 驾驶性能。此外，所学到的所有技能都可以转移到真正的 EPW 上。
