Cole Tauscher, “Simulation of the Sensory Organization Test Using Virtual Reality”
Mentor: Jerald Thomas, Computer Science
Poster #193

Balance disorders impact a large portion of the population; however, current balance assessments require equipment that is very expensive and not mobile. We are attempting to replicate the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) utilizing virtual reality (VR). Currently, conducting the SOT usually makes use of devices such as the Bertec Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP) machine. This is an inconvenient way to conduct the SOT since it requires the patient to move to a hospital that has a CDP, which could cause issues since the patient may have a balance impairment. This test can be performed at the patient’s own home if the SOT can be replicated in VR with similar results to the CDP. Our VR program puts the patient in a scene which will simulate situations from the CDP, and the VR headset records the position of the user’s head to make a graph of the head’s position over time. After the data is collected, a score can be generated to determine how well the user’s vestibular sense is working by utilizing this graph of movement and analyzing the data. The goal is to compare this score with the CDP’s score and get as similar results to it as possible. If the CDP simulation yields a similar score, performing the SOT would become less expensive since the CDP will not need to be utilized, and instead only a VR headset would be required to perform the assessment. Assessing the SOT would also become a mobile procedure, as VR headsets can be transported in order to conduct the assessment. The result of this research also has further implications, since success would show that certain medical tests might be able to be replicated using VR.