Design and Validation of a Dual-Tasks Package based on Kinect Sensor in Virtual Reality Environment to Assess Cognitive Disorders in Elderly People

Studies report that mobility changes could be present in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or even in previous stages, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The use of motor tests, involving dual task, could facilitate screening and differentiation between elderly with AD and MCI. The goal of this research was to design and validation of dual-tasks based on Kinect sensor in a Virtual Reality environment to evaluate cognitive disorders in elderly.

The study was a validating research. The statistical society was the psychologists that were expert in the field of AD treatment, cognitive disorders, and the educational technologies, among which ten people were purposefully selected. A package of dual tasks based on Kinect sensor in a virtual reality environment was developed and evaluated for assessing cognitive disorders in geriatrics. The tools used in this research included a three dimensional game made by Unity, a Kinect sensor and a virtual reality headset. To determine the content validity of the software, a questionnaire was prepared by the technical team concerning the software content, and then was filled by the psychologists. Software validity was determined using the Kappa coefficient

Applying the revisions based on received comments, the evaluation of the experts’ opinions were analyzed and resulted in the Kappa coefficient of 93.4% .

The developed software seems to have the acceptable content validity. Dual tasks based on Kinect sensor may be used to accurately evaluate the cognitive function in elderly