Delsys Training Games

VR games designed for children with muscular dystrophy to encourage participation in clinical recovery training through engaging seated gameplay experiences.

Years Active: 2023–2024

We developed an interactive virtual reality (VR) exergame, “Planet Pulse,” targeted at children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The primary goal was to create a gamified rehabilitation tool that motivates children to perform respiratory and relaxation exercises in a fun, engaging environment, supporting both home therapy and remote telehealth sessions.

  • Role: VR Developer (as part of MassDigi & collaborative team with Delsys, WPI, Clark University)
  • Engine & Platform: Developed in Unity for deployment on VR headsets (Vive Pro 3 and Oculus Quest 2), using C# for game logic and backend integration.
  • Duration: 4 months
  • Target Platform: Android (Vive Pro 3 & Oculus Quest 2)
  • Audience: Children with muscular dystrophy (ages 8–12), designed for seated gameplay
  • Collaborators: Laurie Mazza, Michael Schubert, Mengliu Lu

Screenshots

Gameplay Design

Players are immersed in a stylized outer space environment where planetary halos react in real time to the user’s breathing.

The exergame offers two primary gameplay modes:

  • Respiratory Muscle Training: Players expand planetary halos by taking deep, controlled breaths.

  • Mindfulness/Relaxation: Slow breathing is guided by environmental cues and calming audio.

All activities are designed for seated play with accessible controls, periodic rest intervals, and clinician-guided or self-guided sessions.

Clinician Telehealth Support

Implemented a clinician dashboard displaying real-time patient biometrics and the VR game view.

Integrated Vivox Voice & Text Chat (Unity package) to enable live audio communication between the clinician and patient, supporting remote guidance and feedback.

Real-time health analytics and game telemetry are displayed in both the VR scene and on the clinician’s dashboard for monitoring and assessment.

UI/UX:

Real-time overlay of physiological data in the VR world (e.g., current breathing rate, inhale/exhale ratio, heart rate).

Developed survey and interview modules to capture user/caregiver/clinician feedback for iterative design improvements.

Sensor Hardware Integration

Integrated Delsys Trigno™ wireless respiration and EKG sensors to capture respiratory and cardiac signals.

All sensors communicate wirelessly, transmitting data to a PC/server for real-time processing.

Publication & Recognition

This work was presented in: “A Virtual Reality Exergame: Clinician-Guided Breathing and Relaxation for Children with Muscular Dystrophy”
2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), Shanghai, China
DOI: 10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00065

I was also invited to give a talk titled “Designing Exergames: Impact of Immersive Experience Beyond Engagement and Motivation” at the IEEE Virtual Reality (VR) 2023 Workshop on VR for Exergaming (VR4Exergame 2023).