Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Virtual Biking System Using IoT Interface

Biking exercise as a component of physical rehabilitation has been shown to have numerous positive effects on physical, mental, and emotional well-being in older adults. Adherence to a daily exercise regimen may be challenging for a significant number of older adults. Providing an engaging, immersive environment for exercise may help create a more enjoyable experience with biking at home and improve daily adherence. The goal of our project was to utilize IoT infrastructure to build a prototype of a low-cost geriatric rehabilitation system supporting biking exercises in an immersive virtual environment. Engaging a user in an immersive experience in the Metaverse makes biking exercise more enjoyable and promotes adherence to daily exercise. Using an Oculus headset, we implemented a Metaverse application for a racetrack game that used IoT infrastructure to obtain and process data from a cloud bike in real time. An IoT interface was implemented to support transmission, storage, and real-time visualization of exercise bike speed in an immersive environment. The implemented prototype system demonstrated the high potential of Meta verse applications utilizing IoT infrastructure for building scalable low-cost applications for geriatric telerehabilitation. The existing prototype system will be expanded in the future by adding wireless physiological sensors, vital sign monitors, and remote communication with the clinical rehabilitation team. The efficacy of the system will be evaluated in a randomized clinical trial.