A Usability Study of a Virtual Reality-Based Eye-Tracking Cognitive Assessment System in Clinical Rehabilitation

Background Post-stroke cognitive impairment increases disability and societal burden. Eye tracking technology offers a quick cognitive assessment. Methods From March 2023 to March 2024, 21 stroke patients, 30 controls, and 8 therapists at Wuxi Central Rehabilitation Hospital tested the Virtual Reality Eye Tracking Cognitive Assessment (VECA). Usability was assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS), and motion sickness was evaluated with the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to gather in-depth subjective feedback from the participants. VECA's correlation with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was calculated for validation. Results VECA showed moderate correlation with MoCA in both stroke and control groups (r = 0.522 and r = 0.594). Stroke patients scored 92.50 (81.25, 98.75) on SUS, and controls scored 82.50 (68.75, 95.00), indicating usability between "good" and "excellent." SSQ scores were below the critical value for simulator sickness, indicating no significant issues. Interviews revealed satisfactory overall usability of the VECA system, but improvements are needed in helmet comfort and software features. Conclusions VECA demonstrates good usability and potential to replace MoCA.