Treadmill with Unique Virtual Reality System Promises Numerous Health Benefits

By: Emily Groh

To help astronauts maintain balance and coordination when they return from space to the Earth, Moon, or Mars, NASA Glenn's Human Health and Performance Project Office (within Exploration) has been helping to develop a dual track treadmill with a virtual reality (VR) system. For the past four years, Glenn's primary responsibility has been to create the VR component and software necessary to interface with the treadmill. The project team has been analyzing data collected from two groups of human test subjects.

The construction and testing of the dual track treadmill has been a collaborative effort between NASA Glenn, the John Glenn Bioengineering Consortium, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). Susan D'Andrea, of the CCF's Department of Biomechanical Engineering, served as the Principle Investigator (PI) and managed the research, design, construction, and programming of the treadmill. At Glenn, the development of the VR system was led by Co-PI Dr. Jay Horowitz and computer graphics software engineer Phil O'Connor.

The treadmill design is unique because each track can be independently controlled to vary speed, inclination, or height so as to simulate uneven terrain, steps, or even going around corners. The VR system is synchronized with the treadmill to display an environment that corresponds to the motion of the tracks. A computer interface connects to the VR system and the treadmill to maintain a digital communication link between all three devices.

The VR system is an essential part of the project because it coordinates what you see with what you feel. O'Connor created the software program that generates the visual environment and controls the motion of the treadmill. He said, “I really enjoyed working through the problem-solving challenges. Also, it was a good opportunity to creatively apply graphics, artificial intelligence, and gaming technology to a scientific NASA application.”

Exercise countermeasures like the dual track treadmill will help to improve astronaut health. During spaceflight, astronauts may experience motion sickness, dizziness, impaired motor skills, and decreased muscle coordination. Along with the typical cardiovascular and musculoskeletal benefits of treadmill exercise, it improves an astronaut's coordination and sense of balance when he/she returns to Earth.

According to Dr. Horowitz, an astronaut's ability to re-orient themselves quickly following space travel is critical to long-duration spaceflights to Mars and beyond. For this reason, “countermeasures have become a high priority for NASA in fulfillment of the Vision for Space Exploration,” he said.

Initial testing of the treadmill with human subject has been completed at the Clinic, and the data is currently being analyzed by the project team. The VR environment's software and visual display screen will be continuously updated for improvements. Recently, a visual display was added to the treadmill now used on the International Space Station which may eventually include a VR component. Other future plans for the dual track treadmill include research of more advanced exercise countermeasures by NASA and the CFF.