On the Impact of Augmented Reality for Rehabilitation Treatment: Early Results from a Study with Children

Virtual, augmented or mixed reality (VAMR) has recently gained attention in rehabilitation, given the possibilities technology offers to integrate traditional approaches. In this context, the paper reports on a study involving two children groups for five months. The first group (group A) followed an integrated intervention (traditional plus augmented reality). The second group (group B) underwent only the traditional approach. The results show larger improvements for group A in almost all investigated areas, suggesting a possible benefit of VAMR-supported interventions. On the other hand, the limited size and heterogeneity of the sample represent a clear limitation of this study. Nevertheless, we consider these early results as further evidence of the possible positive impact of technologies – in this case, VAMR – in rehabilitation in the developmental age.