March 30, 2011
EDMONTON – Getting back behind the wheel after injury or illness will now be easier and safer for more Albertans thanks to a new $145,000 driving simulator at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton.
One of the most advanced car simulators in North America, the Canadian-made Virage VS500M was designed and built in Montreal by former aerospace industry experts, and it’s the only ride of its kind in a rehabilitation setting in Alberta.
Rain or shine or blizzard, day or night, windy, urban, industrial, rural or mountainous driving scenarios can all be created in the immersive experience provided within the 180-degree view of three large screens, surround sound and a real-car cockpit mounted on a motion platform. The platform mimics the effects of acceleration and tire vibrations depending on road type and weather conditions. Potholes, road shoulders and even rolling over a sidewalk will be felt by the driver. Two side screens give visual feedback for the left and right blind zones.
“The first time I drove it … and I stopped … I looked around and thought: ‘Where’s the door handle?’,” says Terry Blois, a rehab engineer at the Glenrose, where the simulator was installed in February.
The Glenrose customized its Virage; the driver’s seat is removable to allow for wheelchair drivers, and the “vehicle” is also fully equipped with hand controls for amputee drivers or others with limited use of their legs.
“It’s very real. It helped me a lot,” says Janelle Meredith, 37, of Edmonton, who experienced a stroke. She credits the simulator with helping to rebuild her confidence for the real driving world.
“It gave me a very real perspective of driving, showed me my blind spots … and got me used to driving with other vehicles around.”
“The system also provides us with objective evidence when we want to track how well someone is performing,” says occupational therapist Jonathan Halton. “The software has that information built right in. We can generate reports to track our patients’ progress.”
Adds Blois: “We can store information and see that, last month, our patient was missing his turns six times out of 10, and now he’s making the turns correctly every time – and he’s noticing that deer that jumps out every time, too.”
“It’s a safe environment to relearn driving skills,” says Halton, “especially for people who have had injuries or disease. It’s also a neat, interactive way we can provide other therapies, such as cognitive or visual, where we’re able to provide a virtual environment where people can regain body movements and reflexes. We’re asking therapists to think outside the box and use it in as many ways as possible.”
When the time is right for real-world driving, patients can graduate to the Glenrose’s long-established Driver Evaluation and Training Service (DETS), which helps close to 140 drivers a year regain their skills and confidence on city streets.
The simulator is part of the Building Trades of Alberta Courage Centre (BTACC), a hub for state-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment and technology. The centre is funded through the Building Trades of Alberta Charitable Foundation as well as corporate and private donations to the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.7 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
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