Postural Stability in Virtual Reality Environments: Analysis of Different Conditions of the Afferent Systems

Posture is one of the bases of movement organization. The position and maintenance of posture in each segment is adjusted to allow the transition from one stable posture to another. Postural stability is the ability to maintain the vertical projection of the center of mass within the polygon of support. It is achieved through postural control, which is a subset, visual, vestibular and proprioceptive. Alterations in gait and postural control are two of the most common and disabling sequelae in patients with neurological damage. When individuals with neurological deficits are subjected to virtual reality for rehabilitation, these systems are disturbed. For this reason, the aim of this work is the comparative analysis of postural stability when each afferent system involved in postural control is disturbed in a virtual reality environment. At all levels, vision, the vestibular system and the proprioceptive system were altered at the corresponding levels. The non-immersive virtual reality environment was used, with a 50″ screen and a Microsoft Kinect® V2 sensor to record movement data. The results of this preliminary study indicate that when working with people with vestibular system disorders, caution should be exercised in rehabilitation protocols that include virtual reality games, as their postural stability is at risk.