Applying a Virtual Art Therapy System based on the Michelangelo Effect in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Background: serious videogames have already demonstrated their positive impact on rehabilitation and of particular interest is the virtual reality (VR) technology. This immersive technology has been used in this study for a neuroaesthetic experience based on Michelangelo effect for rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury. The aim of this study was to test the usability of this system and its capacity to assess patients’ deficits performances. Methods: a VR headset was worn by the participants who experienced a painting simulation of famous paintings (experimental stimuli) versus colored (control stimuli). Trajectories of the hand were studied to obtained different kinematic and spectral parameters to evaluate the user performances. 13 healthy subjects and 13 patients with spinal cord injury participated to the study. Results: significative differences were obtained for most of the parameters between the two groups, except for normalized jerk and energy of the spectrum. Analysis in frequency domain showed that both groups prefer the horizontal movements to discover the canvas. NASA and USEQ scores reported a comfortable and user-friendly system according to patients’ point of view. Conclusions: the system can be a usable tool, the rehabilitative efficacy of which should be tested in patients with spinal cord injury. The kinematic and spectral parameters would allow to evaluate the performances alongside the clinical scales, distinguish pathological and physiological performances.