Creating Accessible XR Technologies: Rehabilitation for TBI

Extended reality (XR) technology has the potential to serve as an assistive tool for those with functional limitations- Both as support for those with long-term disabilities, and as a rehabilitation aid for recovery following acute injuries. This paper will explore possibilities for XR in recovery from head trauma, as well as consider how XR can be adapted to support people with functional limitations. Implications for rehabilitation and re-training for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) will be discussed. TBI survivors typically have deficits in spatial cognition that lead to difficulties in navigation tasks. Individuals with TBI experience impairments in navigation skills, specifically in landmark recognition, allocentric location (ability to remember where landmarks are located on a map), and path route knowledge (recall for which direction to turn at intersections). To date there are no guidelines on the implementation of Augmented Reality (AR) specific to the development of tools to assist survivors of TBI in navigation. The first section of this report will document research related to TBI as well as provide specific evidence-based guidelines for designing navigational aids for individuals with TBI. The next section will provide general guidelines for creating augmented reality (AR) and mobile systems targeting the training and support of navigation for individuals with TBI. The final section of the report will provide a use case to demonstrate how the guidelines would appear in a mobile application to support navigation and re-training of navigation skills in users with TBI.