Preliminary Validation of an Immersive Virtual Reality Framework for Prosthetic Embodiment Quantification

This work introduces an immersive virtual reality framework designed for the assessment of both functionality and sense of embodiment of myoelectric upper limb prostheses. The framework features separate training and testing environments in which participants are asked to grasp and release objects with different dimensions controlling a virtual hand with eight sEMG sensors. In the testing session, we introduced a new metric for objective quantification of embodiment based on the shift in users' attention. We evaluated the proposed methodology with ten able-bodied participants and one par-ticipant with limb loss, collecting pre- and post-training data within multiple sessions. Results suggest a similar trend of the proposed virtual reality assessment method and standard questionnaire-based measures of embodiment for able-bodied participants. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between functionality and subjective embodiment highlighting the need for appropriate functional training. Future investigations will include longitudinal studies exploring the integration of our virtual reality framework in real-world rehabilitation settings.