Vestibular rehabilitation using a virtual environment for driver safety

Driving is a necessity of life, and it requires multi-sensory input and processing. Often vestibular impaired patients suffer from dysfunctional sensory input that impairs their driving. Therefore, driver's attention, and egocentric navigation skills are investigated in this project through the use of a spaceball driving simulator. This thesis clarly demonstrates and specifies the steps of implementation of a driving simulator into the spaceball. Driver attention was tested through the use of computer and audio reflex time and was used to analyze the improvement in reaction time. Seat perturbation reflex time test was used to analyze the driver egomotion awareness on the simulator. The experimental results illustrate the improvement in the driving rehabilitation field of reaction time which leads to the conclusion that the visual-proprioceptive virtual driving simulator could provide treatment to the vestibular impaired patients.