Virtual reality simulator for speeding up research on assisted power wheelchair navigation

Abstract

Some people are prevented from driving a power wheelchair because of cognitive and/or visual impairments. In order to improve their access to mobility, we have developed a driving assistance solution. However, developing and testing such systems require a significant amount of material and clinician time. With the deployment of new technologies, it is now possible to speed up the research process by developing the solution on a simulator in a safe and highly flexible virtual environment before equipping and testing a physical prototype. The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the power wheelchair driving simulator developed by INSA Rennes, enabling the user to navigate in an immersive 3D environment. The goal of this preliminary study was to validate the simulator and to assess the quality of experience and user satisfaction. We asked able-bodied people to participate in an experiment which involved navigating in a virtual environment consisting of two obstacle courses while sitting on an actual power wheelchair placed on the immersive platform. The experiment was carried out each time in a random order, with and without driving assistance. We studied the number of collisions and user satisfaction with the simulator. Participants’ sense of immersion and cognitive burden were assessed using the I-Group Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) and NASA-Task Load Index questionnaire (NASA-TLX). Nine able-bodies aged from 11 to 38 years old participated in the study. Our simulator seemed to be accepted by the participants as it generated a good sense of immersion. Participants scored 27.2 ± 18.2 on the NASA-TLX questionnaire and 3.7 ± 1.1 on the IPQ questionnaire. The total number of collisions decreased from 24 without assistance to only 1 with assistance. This preliminary study validated the simulator. People who participated in the experiment felt sufficiently immersed in the virtual environment to feel that they were navigate with a power wheelchair while the wheelchair in which they were sitting was motionless. This first validation step was very important and it is now possible to consider testing with people who are unsuccessful in driving power wheelchairs.