Virtual Walking to Reduce Chronic Neuropathic Pain in Subjects With SCI

This virtual walking therapy uses a life-sized video avatar of the participant walking through a forest environment. A green screen setup combines a live video of the participant's upper body with pre-recorded walking legs, creating a full-body walking illusion. The participant is seated in a modified wheelchair that tilts 2° to each side to mimic pelvic movement during walking. This approach differs from the sham condition (Group 2), which displays only the moving forest without an avatar or wheelchair tilt, and from the standard care group (Group 3), which receives no virtual walking therapy.

Participants view a moving forest environment on a large projection screen for 10 sessions over 2 weeks (each up to 20 minutes). No avatar of the participant is displayed, and the wheelchair tilt function is disabled. This differs from the experimental intervention (Group 1), which includes a life-sized walking avatar and wheelchair tilt to mimic pelvic movement, and from the standard care group (Group 3), which receives no virtual walking therapy.