Winterthur/Zurich/Au SG – The Zurich University of Applied Sciences and the Zurich University of the Arts have developed the ExerUp movement game for rehabilitation after a cruciate ligament rupture. The practice partner was the FitTech start-up Sphery.
The new movement-based game ExerUp supports athletes in their physiotherapy and rehabilitation after a cruciate ligament injury. It was developed by movement scientists from the Department of Health at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences(ZHAW) together with game designers from the Zurich University of the Arts(ZHdK).
The practice partner was the FitTech start-up Sphery. Based in Au, the ZHdK spin-off specializes in game-based, personalized and multimedia training concepts and technologies that are combined with hardware and software designs. In 2019, the ExerCube developed by Sphery went into series production, which is also used here. These are three walls of a 3 x 3 meter cube onto which the game world is projected.
In the ExerCube, athletes perform physical and mental tasks by carrying out typical rehabilitation exercises. Movement trackers on the body ensure that they are carried out correctly. "The game is not intended to replace rehabilitation, but rather to supplement it in a targeted manner before the athletes return to sport," said Prof. Dr. Eveline Graf, Head of the ZHAW Movement Laboratory, in a press release.
"In principle, the new exergame can be used not only by competitive athletes in rehabilitation," explains Sphery founder and CEO Dr. Anna Lisa Martin-Niedecken, who also heads the ZHdK Institute for Design Research. "Amateur athletes also benefit from it as a preventative measure or after an injury. It can also be used for fitness training in addition to the other ExerCube games." ce/mm