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In response to Tom Riess's post regarding the Virtual Reality Gait Training device: First, congratulations Tom on approaching your device launch in a couple of months! I hope it is of great help to many, many people. It is wonderful to have different opportunities for people with Parkinsons available to benefit from this breakthrough technology with each approach being more suitable for different people. I believe this is not the proper place to post descriptions of products, but since a claim was made against the validity of the GaitAid device as a training tool in public, I feel that I must respond. This will be our only post here. Any other questions or comments that come up on this subject can be sent to us via our website. Regarding the GaitAid device used as a training tool - The training sessions and lasting improvement effect is something that was tested and seen in clinical studies and these results have been published in the leading neurological medical journals. Most people who trained with the device in clinical studies have had a lasting improvement to their walking. People who have purchased the device to use at home are giving us the same feedback - they have a lasting improvement - this is not true for everyone but we are getting the same percentage of such feedback from customers as we've seen in clinical studies - over %70 of pwp. We are not claiming anything that was not proven in clinical research. The reason the GaitAid device does produce a lasting effect, as opposed to other devices, is because it is the only one to feedback (patented technology) the person's motion. While using the device you get feedback when you take a good step as well as feedback when it's not a good step. When we started out developing the GaitAid it was also meant as an aid to wear all day. But, we learned that using the feedback approach does produce a lasting effect and the improvement after use is usually even better than the improvement during use. We no longer pay attention during clinical studies to the effect during use but look at the results after use. Another important issue for pwp and people in general - looking at the ground and even leaning over some of the specialty walkers in the market causes more problems with posture and this affects the whole body. Walking tall, looking straight ahead is the way to go. The GaitAid encourages this and we see an improvement of posture with users. Regarding the audio feedback - we have found that the audio feedback (not constant metronome like cues) also has a lasting effect which can be as helpful by itself for some people as the visual cues. In Conclusion- let's remember the goal.We are all working with a common aim of producing a tool to improve pwp lives in the best way we each see. This is not a competition nor can any one produce the right tool for all. Sincerely, Audrey Holmes-Baram MediGait Support On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 1:44 PM, <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In a message dated 2/1/09 11:00:41 PM, [log in to unmask]: > > > > Gait Training Device for PWPs > > > > I would like to comment in regards to the Virtual Reality gait training > device. > > I have had Parkinson's Disease for approximately 25 years and have been > working on such a device for at least 10 years. This work has been funded > by an > NIH grant and much of the work has been done at the University of > Washington's > Human Interface Technology lab which is one of the leading facilities for > virtual reality applications. I have worked with both visual and auditory > devices. Auditory devices were abandoned in favor of a visual approach > because it is very difficult to talk while listening to a rhythmic tone. > People can test themselves at home to determine if a virtual (technically ' > augmented') reality device would be useful to them. This can be done by > placing ordinary playing cards on the ground in a line at about a normal > stride > length interval (say 18 to 24 inches apart.) The subject stands at one end > of the > line of cards and walks by stepping over each card like rungs of a ladder. > If this improves your gait then you would likely benefit from virtual > visual > cues. However, I would caution people to beware of devices which make > claims to > be "training devices". In my experience such devices in no way can teach > one how to walk again without the device. They do work while the subject > wears > them. > Currently, my device (which are called PD Glasses ) is being developed by > a > Southern California company called Enhanced Vision Systems and should be > available within a couple of months. These glasses are intended to be > worn to > enable walking not as a training device. They can be fitted with the > subject' > s prescription glasses. The glasses are totally self-contained (no > external > hardware or battery packs to be worn in a pocket and wired to the device. > They work by projecting virtual cards onto the floor when the subject > bends > his head down towards the floor. One looks through the image in > projecting it onto the floor and thus vision in both eyes is not > obstructed. > > Regards, > Tom Riess > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto: > [log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn