A Virtual Reality Environment for Rehabilitation of Prospective Memory in Stroke Patients

Prospective Memory (PM), or remembering to perform actions in the future, is of crucial importance for everyday life. This kind of memory is often impaired in stroke survivors and can interfere with independent living. We have developed a computer-based treatment which uses visual imagery to teach participants how to remember time- and event-based prospective memory tasks better. After the treatment, participants practiced their PM skills using videos first, and later in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. The VR environment uses Constraint-Based Modeling (CBM) to track the user actions and provide individual feedback. We report on a study with 15 stroke survivors, which shows that our treatment is highly effective.