XR-Based Serious Game for Assessing Bradykinesia in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that compromises different motor, behavioural and cognitive functions. Recent technological advances have encouraged the development of eXtended Reality (XR) applications for PD, both in diagnostics and therapeutics. In this study, we present a new XR-based serious game designed to assess hand bradykinesia in individuals with PD. The game involves popping randomly generated colored balloons in the real-world environment, requiring players to perform finger-tap gestures within a limited time frame. Game difficulty escalates across levels, introducing simple or complex cognitive dual tasks. Five PD participants participated in the first usability and user experience evaluations. Overall, the participants encountered no significant issues during the game and showed considerable interest in the application. Usability tests indicated optimal usability levels but revealed a high perceived workload among participants. Future research will focus on assessing the efficacy of the proposed XR system through a comprehensive clinical trial.