Game-based virtual reality systems have been shown to enhance motor function, motivation and therapy adherence in cerebral palsy (CP) children. In these systems, several types of virtual body representations have been implemented, however without conclusive support of guidelines nor the most appropriate choice for enhancing motor performance. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how the subjective experience of seeing and controlling a half-body avatar, or an abstract hand representation in a moderate immersion virtual environment (VE), for training upper limb movements may affect CP children’s motor performance. To achieve that purpose, a game-like VE for training the reaching-releasing of objects was designed. Unlike previous studies, relevant task performance and cost function metrics were obtained from the analysis of kinematic and kinetic parameters of movement. Results show that visualizing the hand movement through an abstract object makes children perform faster, correct less to produce smoother movements, and use less mechanical energy than visualizing the arm movement through a realistic Avatar. These effects were more noticeable in the reaching than in the releasing phase of the task. Based on these findings, some recommendations are provided for the effective design and use of VE’s for upper limb rehabilitation of CP children.

已显示基于游戏的虚拟现实系统可增强脑瘫（CP）儿童的运动功能，动机和治疗依从性。在这些系统中，多种类型的虚拟身体表示已经实施，但是没有确凿支持的指导原则，也为提高发动机性能最合适的选择。因此，本研究的目的是研究在中等浸入虚拟环境（VE）中观察和控制半身化身或抽象手表示的主观体验，以训练上肢运动如何影响CP儿童的运动能力。为了实现该目的，设计了一种类似游戏的VE，用于训练物体的释放。与以前的研究不同，通过分析运动的运动学和动力学参数，可以获得相关的任务绩效和成本函数指标。结果表明，与通过逼真的头像可视化手臂运动相比，通过抽象对象可视化手部运动可使儿童更快地执行动作，少进行校正以产生更平稳的动作，并使用较少的机械能。这些影响在任务的达成阶段比在任务释放阶段更为明显。基于这些发现，提供了一些建议，以有效设计和使用VE对CP儿童的上肢康复。并且比通过现实的头像可视化手臂的运动消耗的机械能量更少。这些影响在任务的达成阶段比在任务释放阶段更为明显。基于这些发现，提供了一些建议，以有效设计和使用VE对CP儿童的上肢康复。并且比通过现实的头像可视化手臂的运动消耗的机械能量更少。这些影响在任务的达成阶段比在任务释放阶段更为明显。基于这些发现，提供了一些建议，以有效设计和使用VE对CP儿童的上肢康复。