Date of Publication :25th July 2023

Abstract: Hands are very important body parts for humans, yet they are often affected by injuries or dysfunctions due to diseases. However, rehabilitation costs are high, and patients are often unable to receive the necessary treatment, so supervised self-training at home could be a good solution. This is possible through serious games that allow patients to exercise at their own pace. Many games have already been proposed and developed over the years, but most rely on additional equipment such as motion capture cameras or robotic devices. In this work, we developed a serious hand rehabilitation game called PAINO, based on open-source software and a regular webcam, to explore new ways of implementing low-cost, yet precise and effective exercises. We tested PIANO for feasibility with four users by analyzing the accuracy of the hand and finger detection, their questionnaire responses, and the emotions experienced while playing. The results indicate that this type of serious game is useful for guiding users towards targeted hand movements and could therefore be used as a tool for self-training of finger flexion.

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