Researchers at UCD and NUIM have developed interactive technology that allows users to do the exercise therapy using a PC, writes Danielle Barron
It would cost you €45,000 for a private lesson with yoga devotee and Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, as paid for by one fan at a recent charity auction.
Alternatively, you could wait for a new computer game that researchers at University College Dublin and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth are developing. They are combining modern virtual reality gaming technology with the ancient exercise therapy in an effort to create an affordable PC-based game that will act like a virtual personal trainer.
Work on this project began in 2004 as a collaboration between the UCD school of physiotherapy and NUI Maynooth's department of electronic engineering and computer science.
Dr Brian Caulfield of UCD says the idea first came up in conversation with Dr Tomás Ward, an electronic engineer at NUI Maynooth. Motion analysis was already used in a laboratory setting for diagnosis purposes, says Caulfield, but they saw other possible applications for it. "We wanted to use wearable motion capture technology in a way that could actually improve people's health," he says.
At the time, engineers at Maynooth were working with accelerometers - small sensors that measure the acceleration of whatever they are attached to. This acceleration can then be scaled down and used to measure the tilt of a limb, for example, explains John Foody, an engineer involved with the project.
Caulfield says they realised these tiny devices could be incorporated into a wearable garment that could track a person's movements.
"We thought: 'wouldn't it be wonderful if you could incorporate these accelerometers into people's clothing so that you could measure their movement in a completely unobtrusive way?'," he recalls.
Foody has now designed a low-cost orientation sensor that can be integrated into clothing. This was a major advance for the project, which is funded by the Higher Education Authority. "There were sensors out there that we could have just purchased but they were ridiculously expensive," says Caulfield.
Several sensors placed on various parts of the body enable a person's exact posture to be determined. "We run multiple sensors together and stream the data to give all the angles of rotation of the body," explains Foody.
This information is then wirelessly communicated to the computer and used to produce an avatar, or character, on screen that accurately mirrors the player's position.
Diarmaid Fitzgerald of UCD is involved in developing the exercises that are used in the computer game. He believes the game will increase participation in physical exercise.
"If you make exercise more enjoyable, it's easier to do it," he says, adding that it will also be more convenient. "You could be guided through yoga sequences in the comfort of your own home, rather than have to enter a class."
According to Foody, the system will not only monitor a person's physical position, but also their physiological state, such as heart rate and skin resistance.
"There's no point in being in the right position if you're in a ridiculously stressed state," he says.
According to Caulfield, if you're doing the exercises wrong, your virtual trainer will let you know. "As well as being reproduced on the screen, you will also get verbal feedback from the trainer, just as you would in an exercise class," he says.
Fitzgerald adds that they hope there will also be visual feedback. "For example, if the rest of the body is in the correct position, but the arm isn't, this might be shown by having the arm highlighted in a different colour," he says. They also expect that there will be a rating system so that people can track their improvement as they progress from beginner to expert.
The team hope the project will eventually lead to the development of wearable training systems for other exercise therapies such as pilates and core stability training, which could be used by people suffering from high blood pressure, anxiety disorder and chronic pain.
As a practising physiotherapist, Fitzgerald says that the most important part of physiotherapy treatment is the therapeutic exercise programme that aims to improve muscle function. However, he says most people tend not to bother with these follow-up exercises.
"In the clinic you can give hands-on treatment and use machines. But getting people to complete their exercise programme is impossible. They do them on the first day and then don't bother."
Caulfield adds that another possible role for the technology is in child development. "This could be a way of harnessing children's love for computer games in order to improve their posture and physical functioning," he says.
And you won't need a big bank balance to avail of this revolutionary technology. Caulfield says a priority for the team is the production of an easy-to-use, inexpensive system. "We have, as our guiding principle, to develop something that could be purchased by a youth club or community centre at least, but at best by an individual user."