Physical rehabilitation for balance problems is often slow, repetitive, and boring.
But new research from the University of Queensland (UQ) suggests that virtual reality (VR) games could make these exercises more fun, effective, and accessible for people of all ages.
Achintha Abayasiri, a Ph.D. scholar from UQ’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is studying how VR games—like virtual table tennis—can help improve standing balance.
His goal is to see whether using a VR headset during balance training could motivate people to stick with their exercises, especially older adults who often struggle with balance due to age or medical conditions like stroke.
In his study, participants wore a VR headset and played a game of table tennis while standing on a stationary treadmill equipped with special force-measuring plates to track their movements.
To make the task more challenging, Abayasiri slightly misaligned the virtual paddle with the players’ real hand position.
This trick forced their brains and bodies to work harder to stay balanced—without them realizing they were doing therapy.
Both younger and older adults, aged 65 to 84, took part in the experiment. Most were familiar with video games to some degree.
Participants found the VR-based balance training enjoyable, easy to follow, and, importantly, they didn’t report much motion sickness—a common problem in virtual environments.
Abayasiri emphasized that customizing VR experiences to each person’s needs is key to success.
The findings, published in the journal JMIR Serious Games, point to exciting new possibilities. Instead of long therapy sessions with repetitive movements, patients could put on a headset, play a game, and still work on the same essential skills—with more fun and fewer dropouts.
Abayasiri plans to take the research further by exploring how VR games could support walking-based rehabilitation on treadmills.
He believes that the engaging nature of games can distract patients from the difficulty of the exercise, while still providing the necessary challenges to retrain balance and coordination.
His work is guided by a team of experts, including Dr. Nilufar Baghaei, who leads research on immersive tech and health, and Associate Professor Taylor Dick, who specializes in biomechanics and assistive technologies.
Dr. Baghaei said the project shows real promise in reducing pressure on therapists while improving outcomes for patients. Dr. Dick added that this research could help people who currently find rehab difficult due to mobility issues or lack of access to in-person services.
In the future, using a VR headset might not just be for entertainment—it could be your ticket to better balance and safer movement.
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