Development and validation of the immersive prototype of the serious game Virtualter.
Virtual Reality; Electronic Games; Postural Balance; Cybersickness
Introduction: The growing scientific development allows humans to experience various activities through technological resources, among which is Virtual Reality (VR), known for its ability to promote neuroplasticity, acting as a complementary and facilitator tool for conventional physiotherapy. In immersive VR, there is complete immersion in the virtual world, which can trigger the emergence of various side effects in users who engage with it. These discomforts are called Cybersickness (CS), observed through headaches, dizziness, nausea, and even disorientation. Objective: To develop and validate the immersive prototype of the serious game Virtualter for postural balance training. Methodology: This is a descriptive study that will be conducted in two stages: 1) Development and validation of the immersive prototype of the serious game Virtualter through meetings with a multidisciplinary team and gathering the opinions of expert physiotherapist judges and professionals in the field of science and technology applied to game and/or VR development, after experiencing the game and observing its peculiarities. In this phase, the System Usability Scale (SUS) will be used as a measurement instrument; 2) Investigation of the emergence of Cybersickness symptoms in healthy young individuals through an experimental study with intentional non-probabilistic sampling. Pre- and post-immersion evaluations will be conducted using the immersive VR mode of Virtualter with 50 healthy young participants. The data collection instruments will include a sociodemographic evaluation form, the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ), the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), the Presence Questionnaire (PQ), and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). The project will be developed at the Virtual Reality Intervention and Research Laboratory in the Department of Physiotherapy, in partnership with the Laboratory of Educational, Assistive, and Multimedia Technologies at the School of Sciences and Technology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Statistical analysis: Quantitative data will be analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program. Descriptive statistics will be used to characterize the participants using mean, standard deviation, and a 95% confidence interval. Preliminary Results: As preliminary results, currently professionals in the field of science and technology/game development are in the phase of analyzing the characteristics of the games already available on Oculus Quest and conducting tests, moving towards the improvement of Virtualter, with a perspective towards transitioning vision.