22.04.2022. A successful design of our ReHyb device has to meet the wishes and needs of the patients and adjunct stakeholders. That’s why we emphasize a user-centered approach within the ReHyb project. Being one of the clinical partners in the ReHyb project, Schoen Clinic Bad Aibling-Harthausen (SK) aims to provide the perspective from users and clinical stakeholders such as medical professionals (e.g. medical doctors, therapists), patients in the clinic and at home and their caregivers.
Following this approach, we held a 2-day workshop at SK together with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in early April 2022. The main focus of the workshop was the user interface design and the serious gaming aspect of the ReHyb system. A try-out session of existing serious gaming solutions for upper limb rehabilitation was organized, as well as meetings between patients, patients’ relatives, medical doctors, therapists and researchers. Ideas for potential future serious gaming solutions were presented and stakeholders’ feedback regarding these ideas was collected. Patients and therapists were enthusiastic about the ideas for future rehabilitation and could already try out a combination of cyclic arm endurance training combined with a head-mounted virtual reality display. With this, DTU enabled the users to virtually cycle along lovely walking routes in Copenhagen, which delighted all participants. On the second day, healthcare professionals were invited to discuss and test the further user interface and gaming options. Students from the DTU joined the workshop online and presented their recent developments on a Digital Twin application.
All in all the workshop was a great success and contributes to the user-centered design process of the ReHyb system. Patients and clinicians can’t wait to test the upcoming developments and to experience them integrated in the alpha prototype later this year.
