Sensors, Vol. 19, Pages 3632: Agreement Analysis between Vive and Vicon Systems to Monitor Lumbar Postural Changes (Sensors)

Immersive virtual reality has recently developed into a readily available system that allows for full-body tracking. Can this affordable system be used for component tracking to advance or replace expensive kinematic systems for motion analysis in the clinic? The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of position and orientation measures from Vive wireless body trackers when compared to Vicon optoelectronic tracked markers attached to (1) a robot simulating trunk flexion and rotation by repeatedly moving to know locations, and (2) healthy adults playing virtual reality games necessitating significant trunk displacements. The comparison of both systems showed component tracking with Vive trackers is accurate within 0.68 ± 0.32 cm translationally and 1.64 ± 0.18° rotationally when compared with a three-dimensional motion capture system. No significant differences between Vive trackers and Vicon systems were found suggesting the Vive wireless sensors can be used to accurately track joint motion for clinical and research data.