ARFoG: Augmented Reality Device to Alleviate Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurological disorder characterized by tremors, difficulty in movement, gait and coordination. Among other symptoms, most patients suffer from Freezing of Gait (FOG): an abrupt halt in gait, usually described by patients as “feet get glued to the ground”. Research has shown that cueing techniques help improve the patient's gait and reduce the number and duration of FOG episodes. Cueing can be defined as using external stimuli which provide temporal or spatial information to facilitate movement initiation and continuation. Although visual stimuli help alleviate FOG, state-of-the-art devices only help with scaling the gait and do not consider other known FOG triggers, such as changes in direction. Our solution (ARFoG) uses a stereo camera and state-of-the-art robotics software to dynamically build a map of the environment, localize the patient and plan trajectories to where they want to go. Once a destination is chosen via voice commands, lines indicating where to step throughout the entire trajectory are shown using Smart Glasses. With this device, the patient's focus is only on the gait movement, avoiding distractions that may trigger FoG episodes.