ASK neuroscientist Stuart Smith about the biggest problem with rehabilitation exercises for stroke patients and he'll be blunt: they're boring.
Despite their effectiveness at improving motor control and reducing sensory and intellectual impairment, many stroke patients in Smith's care find exercises repetitive and frustrating.
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"This is especially the case with the young guys," says Smith, who is with Neuroscience Research Australia (NeurA) in Sydney.
"It's difficult to even get them to turn up to the rehabilitation sessions sometimes. You can move a bag of sand across a desk thousands of times a day and see a very clear improvement, but no one's going to do that."
What people would rather do is play video games. And, as it happens, that's just what they need.
Video games and virtual reality have been used in medicine for nearly 20 years. San Francisco psychologist Ralph Lamson is widely credited with having pioneered the use of so-called VR immersion therapy when he used a computer simulation to treat his own acrophobia, fear of heights.
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