Najm, AliMichael-Grigoriou, DespinaKyrlitsias, ChristosChristofi, MariaHadjipanayi, ChristosSokratous, DimitrisKulik, Alexander and Sra, Misha and Kim, Kangsoo and Seo, Byung-Kuk2020-12-012020-12-012020978-3-03868-112-01727-530Xhttps://doi.org/10.2312/egve.20201269https://diglib.eg.org:443/handle/10.2312/egve20201269VR-based rehabilitation allows the creation of fully controlled environments that define training tasks specifically designed to target the individual needs of patients. VR-based rehabilitation systems can be integrated into game-like interactions, capitalizing on motivational factors that are essential for recovery [MP00]. This project focuses on the development and preliminary evaluation of a VR-based approach for upper limb rehabilitation in chronic stroke survivors who suffer from hemiplegia. Towards this end, we have developed a VR exergame, where the player is required to repeat the supination-pronation movement of the wrist joint, similar to that done within a physiotherapy session. An ongoing issue with such exercises in rehabilitation is that recovery methods lose their effectiveness when the procedure becomes tedious [KJ08, SLSORCan11]. Therefore, the application that we have developed differs from pre-existing ones in the fact that it is based on the theory of Social Facilitation [Z65]. The objective of the proposed project is to investigate the impact of the existence of a virtual agent, who will act as a ''social facilitator'', on the patient's overall performance and interest in the upper limb rehabilitation exergame.Computing methodologiesComputer graphicsGraphics systems and interfacesVirtual realitySocial and professionaltopicsUser characteristicsPeople with disabilitiesHardwareCommunication hardwareinterfaces and storageSensors and actuatorsors10.2312/egve.202012691-2