Enhance VR: A Multisensory Approach to Cognitive Training and Monitoring

Abstract

Cognitive training systems aim to improve specific domains or global cognition by engaging users in cognitively demanding tasks. While screen-based applications can improve performance in the trained cognitive abilities, they are often criticized for their poor transferability to activities of daily living. These systems, however, exclude the user's body and motor skills, which invariably serves to restrict the user experience. Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) systems, in contrast, present the user with body-related information, such as proprioceptive and visuomotor information, allowing for an immersive and embodied experience of the environment. This feature renders VR a very appealing tool for cognitive training and neurorehabilitation applications. We present Enhance VR, an IVR-based cognitive training and monitoring application that offers short daily cognitive workouts. The games are designed to train and monitor specific cognitive domains such as memory, task flexibility, information processing, orientation, attention, problem-solving, and motor control. The aim is to test whether cognitively demanding tasks, presented in an IVR setting, provide a naturalistic system to train and monitor cognitive capabilities.

Effects of virtual reality‐based cognitive interventions on cognitive function and activity of daily living among stroke patients: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Beyond mobility training, VR‐based cognitive intervention required participants to comprehend tasks and respond accordingly within an artificial environment offering multisensory feedback (Cooper et al., 2018). Engaging in visual, auditory and/or tactile stimulation demands coordination across various cognitive domains, such as decision‐making, attention and memory (Brugada‐Ramentol et al., 2022). These cognitive functions are closely tied to the reconstruction and reorganization of new synapses to repair brain lesions after neurological injuries (Johansson, 2012).…”

The effect of a virtual reality based intervention on processing speed and working memory in individuals with ADHD—A pilot-study

“…This longer exposure time, although it may lead to better performance by repeated training, still challenges the player and enables continued learning, since the pattern of the game varies and the levels become more complex, implying that the player will have to adapt to the new demands of the game. Furthermore, of the WM games selected for the intervention, one of them directly addresses WM while the other addresses visuospatial short-term memory (Brugada-Ramentol et al, 2022). However, when considering working memory as a cognitive system that stores and manipulates information for a short period of time to complete a task and knowing that working memory encompasses a visuospatial component (Baddeley, 2012), we can assume that both chosen games address WM as a whole.…”

“…The study took place at the LabRP of ESS|P.Porto. The intervention used a subset of 6 games from the Enhance VR library (Brugada-Ramentol et al, 2022). The games were accessed through the Enhance VR platform on a Meta Quest head-mounted display (HMD), qualcomm snapdragon 835 processor, 4Gb RAM, 64 Gb internal memory, resolution per eye in pixels: 1,400 × 1,600, with a refresh rate of 72 Hz and motion controllers.…”

“…For working memory, the games Memory Wall and Maestro were used to train short term visuospatial memory and working memory, respectively. For processing speed, we used Assembly, which trains the processing speed and the capacity to codify, and React, which aims to train task-switching and response inhibition skills (Brugada-Ramentol et al, 2022).…”

A preventive school-based paradigm using virtual reality technologies for improving emotional regulation, depressive and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents (e-Emotio project): a randomized controlled pilot trial

“…Each gaming journey commences with a benchmark session, established to gauge the user's initial performance level. Subsequent sessions then resume from the user's most recent competency level, allowing for personalized progression (Brugada-Ramentol et al, 2022). The difficulty within the Enhance IVR platform is variable, contingent upon the specific game, and fine-tuned by modifying pertinent parameters for each activity.…”