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Although telerehabilitation systems represent one of the most technologically appealing clinical solutions for the immediate future, they still present limitations that prevent their standardization. Here we propose an integrated approach that includes three key and novel factors: (a) fully immersive virtual environments, including virtual body representation and ownership; (b) multimodal interaction with remote people and virtual objects including haptic interaction; and (c) a physical representation of the patient at the hospital through embodiment agents (e.g., as a physical robot). The importance of secure and rapid communication between the nodes is also stressed and an example implemented solution is described. Finally, we discuss the proposed approach with reference to the existing literature and systems.

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Complex interactions occur in virtual reality systems, requiring the modelling of next-generation attention models to obtain believable virtual human animations. This paper presents a saliency model that is neither domain nor task specific, which is used to animate the gaze of virtual characters. A critical question is addressed: What types of saliency attract attention in virtual environments and how can they be weighted to drive an avatar's gaze? Saliency effects were measured as a function of their total frequency. Scores were then generated for each object in the field of view within each frame to determine the most salient object within the virtual environment. This paper compares the resulting saliency gaze model to tracked gaze, in which avatars' eyes are controlled by head-mounted mobile eye-trackers worn by human subjects, random gaze model informed by head-orientation for saccade generation, and static gaze featuring non-moving centered eyes. Results from the evaluation experiment and graphical analysis demonstrate a promising saliency gaze model that is not just believable and realistic but also target-relevant and adaptable to varying tasks. Furthermore, the saliency model does not use any prior knowledge of the content or description of the virtual scene.