Playful Games – Serious Benefits: Gaming for Physical Rehabilitation

The use of computer games in the treatment of a variety of conditions is becoming increasingly recognised. Indeed its potential in distracting patients from the pain endured as a part of their treatment has been recognised for in excess of twenty years (Redd 1987, Adriaenssens et al 1988, Peglow 1992). In fact their use has also been identified as potentially beneficial within physiotherapy (Szer 1983, Sietsema et al 1993, Vilozni et al 1994, Hoffman 2000). However new technology that allows the tracking of the body and relatively small movements has radically increased the potential of games and their power to distract in the development of new physiotherapy treatments.
The drawback is that work in this areas has often been limited to working with tracking technologies and mainstream games titles or have tended towards the development of ‘serious’ games. The problem with mainstream titles is that the patterns of movement they demand are driven by the game rather than therapeutic needs. In contrast the ‘serious’ games that have been developed that place therapy before play and loose the very benefits that an involvement with games provide. What is required is the development of systems that understand the range of movements required by therapists but that also put play on an equal footing in order to realise the potential on offer.