VR Technology Applications in Determining Fitness to Drive

Occupational therapists practicing in the field of brain injury rehabilitation are often asked to evaluate fitness to drive. For brain-injured survivors, the return to independence with respect to transportation is a critical goal for rehabilitation. A person's ability to earn a living, manage a household, and participate in leisure activities is affected when access to transportation is prevented. Often psychometric testing alone does not provide sufficient information to predict performance of a complex task such as driving. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate the integration of cognitive, visual, perceptual, and physical skills in task performance; that is, functional driving performance. Virtual reality technology by virtue of its' immersive and interactive qualities has the potential to contribute to the evaluation of driving performance. In a driving simulator application, virtual reality technology provides a safe assessment environment and generates objective performance measurement data to assist clinical judgement. In this article, the development of the driVR™ technology and its' current use in an occupational therapy practice will be discussed.