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R4b. Visualization Mobility Training to Overcome Environmental Barriers

Principal Investigator: Jon A. Sanford, M.Arch

Co-Investigators: J. Shaw, MS, IMAGINE Lab; Chris Maurer, MSPT, ATP, Shepherd Center

Timeline Yrs 3 - 5 (36 months)

Specific Aims

Visualization may offer an improved means to train wheelchair users to negotiate environmental barriers in real world situations. This study will investigate learning negotiation strategies with and without visualization training. The goal is to determine whether visualization training is as effective as real-world training in teaching wheelchair users to negotiate environmental barriers. The specific aims of the project are to: 1) create an animated representation of an environment that includes real and perceived environmental barriers, 2) test the ability of visualization in training wheelchair users to overcome barriers, and 3) determine whether learning effects within a particular environment cross-over to other environments. Project findings will be used to develop a generic training module that can be used to train therapists to teach wheeled mobility strategies as well as to train users of wheeled mobility devices.

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