Credit: Provided by the National Science Foundation
Summary:
At the Beyond Today’s Internet Summit, researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas showed a working prototype of a next generation communication system that uses 3D video and force feedback devices to virtually recreate a physical therapy session between a patient and a therapist.
Full Text:
At the Beyond Today’s Internet Summit, researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas showed a working prototype of a next-generation communication system that uses 3-D video and force feedback devices to virtually recreate a physical therapy session between a patient and a therapist. Three dimensional models of the two participants are captured using off-the-shelf Microsoft Kinect 3-D cameras and the models are placed in a shared virtual environment of one’s choosing. To simulate the physical touch aspect of a physical therapy session, the researchers used a Haptic force-feedback device, the data from which is also transmitted to and fro to recreate the experience of resistance in the virtual environment. In this example, the team created a simulation where two individuals practice sawing a log, a task that mimics the rehabilitation movements used by recovering stroke patients. The application is just an example of what can be achieved with next-generation networks and protocols that support high bandwidth and low latency communication.
