Master of Graphic Design

THESIS

Problem Space

Roughly 30 million young athletes participate in competitive sports each year in the United States. Unfortunately, sports-related injuries will impact approximately 90% of those athletes. The recovery process varies due to the ever-changing factors of each athlete and their unique anatomical attributes. Therefore, there is an opportunity to improve the recovery process and provide customizable elements to the athlete with emerging technology. Through my final thesis project, I explore how the design of mixed reality experiences can assist injured athletes through their recovery process through feedback on physical components and customized information.

Scenario

Jackie Nelson [persona] is entering her junior year of high school. Jackie is working on researching and applying to various college programs to continue her education. One aspect she is looking for in a potential college is the opportunity to continue playing her sport at a collegiate level. Jackie is serious about her sport and wants to grow into a strong athletic candidate. Unfortunately, during her pre-season, Jackie injured herself. Due to untreated muscle weakness and physical impact in a game, Jackie dislocated her knee cap. She is now undergoing rehabilitation with her athletic trainer to strengthen various muscles throughout her body. The athletic trainer has given her exercises to complete independently for the athletic training department at her school is short-staffed. Jackie would like to understand her injury on a more in-depth level. Her rehabilitation focuses on three phases. The first phase will focus on her injury's psychological aspect, prompting her to understand her injury and mitigating emotions such as frustration. The second phase will focus on physical rehabilitation of her injury and giving her support as she goes through exercises individually. And finally, Phase three will assist Jackie in progressively returning to play, highlighting educational methods and progress visualizations.

STUDY 01

How can an interactive system prompt an injured athlete to understand the extent of their injury and provide personalized reporting methods in their recovery process to mitigate the negative psychological effects of an injury through augmented reality and wearable technology?

One of the conclusions drawn from study one was the idea of making the invisible visible to the user. Through mixed reality glasses the system allows the athlete to see what the simulations are doing to her body and where they are targeting. The user can also see the number of muscle contractions in their body. The athlete can also see an additional visual of what is happening to their body, in this case, their knee. This system can also detect elements within the environment and allow for simulations and informational feedback to the user One component of these visual overlays that will be consistent throughout all studies is the visual treatment. To distinguish the real-world environment from the system overlays is the use of color

I also investigated how the user can interact and manipulate the presented visual overlays. Through gesture recognition, the user can adjust their viewpoint and explore elements within their environment. This allows the user to control what they would like to learn, giving them the additional type of responsibility within their injury process. With additional features such as the voice assistant, body visualizations and data tracking, the system is able to compile information that is unique to the user.

Study 02

How can augmented reality overlays provide additional feedback about an athlete's injury through the rehabilitation process by correcting and analyzing body movements in real-time?

Accomplishing correct form within exercises ensures that you target the correct muscles and move your body safely and accurately. Form error detections allow the athlete to see visual overlays on their body to correct their form. In this case, Jackie is doing squats incorrectly. The system can detect that form and give corrections.  As Jackie moves through her exercises, the system continuously tracks her body movements. This allows for real-time corrections, information, and overall feedback from the system. In addition, body mapping allows the user to get personalized information when doing exercises alone that are precise to Jackie's movements. Maintaining form is another important aspect of the physical rehabilitation phase. The user can visually see the margins she needs to stay within this system to maintain the correct form. As the user completes the exercises, different margins are presented to the user to assist her in maintaining form.

An additional layer to this system is the opportunity for the user to learn how the exercises impact their body.  Jackie is curious about what benefits leg raises do for her recovery process. Here Jackie can access educational modules where she is shown what muscles are targeted within this exercise and what that means for her body.

Study 03

How can a personal data system augmented with educational modules help a recovering athlete safely return to play and learn more about their injury within their sport by utilizing customization and personalized exercises?

As Jackie is going through the game-like drills, it is important to recognize that she is not entirely at 100 percent performance. With that being said, to reduce risks within her exercises, modules through mixed reality are offered. For example, Jackie can work on offensive drills with a simulation of a defender. Through these simulations, Jackie is also given guidelines to enhance her performance through dodges and movement suggestions.

Throughout this study, I explored how different components within this system may work together. For example, with body sensors that attach directly to the athlete, the system can get accurate measurements and data as the athlete moves through various exercises. I also explored the notion of various modes within the system. For example, Jackie can see data represented on the screen interface and view moments of data in mixed reality. This allows for a more immersive experience. Lastly, another feature within this design exploration is that Jackie's body is mirrored within the interface system. Here you can see form corrections and performance modifications with her stick movement. Using visuals that mimic embodiment allows for an increased understanding of the space and visual familiarity.