Virtual application to prevent repetitive strain injuries in hands

Abstract

Repetitive movements in hands may cause strain injuries that negatively influence the employee performance. The lack of awareness for prevention this type of working injuries often leads the employers to believe that costs associated to prevention are unnecessary expenditures. So, the objective of this paper is to develop a serious game for preventing repetitive strain injuries in hands. The game activities are developed in Unity 3D software and using the 3D sensor, Intel RealSense 3D Camera F200. There are two sets of exercises, the warming up and the stretching off exercises, to be executed during the playing activity. Three game scenarios were developed. The tests performed so far allow concluding that the proposed system correctly detects the hands movements.