If you’ve ever had to endure the long, arduous process that is physical therapy, you’ll know that rehabilitation is not fun. One company is making all that work a little less horrible by incorporating movement-based video games into treatment plans. MIRA Rehab is revolutionizing recovery.
By taking existing therapy exercises and adapting them for the Xbox 360’s Kinect, MIRA takes repetitive, sometimes painful mobility drills and turns them into simple interactive games. This isn’t just a fancy edition of Wii Sports. MIRA’s products also keep track of progress so physical therapists can adapt the system to fit specific needs. While MIRA has found particular success with children, its applications have improved motor functions for patients of all ages.
MIRA was started by four Romanian students who entered their product into the Healthbox Accelerator and won the Healthbox Innovation Award at the end of the program early in 2013. Since then, MIRA has released 14 “exergames” that target a variety of neurological and orthopedic conditions from Parkinson’s to arthritis.
You can find out more about MIRA on their official website.
