Science Café presents Dr. James Thomas on “Virtual Reality in Rehabilitation” on Wednesday, March 23, at 5 p.m. in the Baker Center Front Room.
Dr. James Thomas
Virtual reality takes gamers into new worlds, immersing them both visually and audibly. But virtual reality isn’t just for gamers. This technology, which has been used for everything from rides at Disney Land to training air force pilots, is being studied in Thomas’ neuroscience lab.
Thomas and his colleagues have designed virtual reality games to study impaired movement due to pain and associated health conditions. For example, virtual dodge ball requires the player to move their back in order to successfully block virtual balls thrown at their avatar. This encourages patients with low back pain to extend their range of motion while playing a fun, interactive and engaging game.
“There is tremendous potential for these immersive systems to provide novel treatments to patients with problems ranging from balance disorders to low back pain,” he says.
Café events are free and open to students, faculty and staff. Café Conversations and Science Cafés are both venues for students to share their interests informally during a conversation exchange in a friendly setting. The Science Cafe is hosted by Dr. Sarah Wyatt, Professor of Environmental & Plant Biology and Vice President of the Ohio University Chapter of Sigma Xi. The two series are sponsored by the Ohio University chapter of Sigma Xi and the Office of the Vice President for Research. Find the Science Café on Facebook and Twitter.
Comments