Virtual and mixed reality (VR/MR) technologies have become transformative tools in neurorehabilitation, offering safe, controllable environments for patients to practice movements and cognitive tasks after neurological injury. In stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation, immersive simulations can replicate real-life challenges (like maintaining balance on unstable surfaces or crossing a busy street) within a clinically safe setting. This allows patients to engage in intensive, task-specific exercises with real-time feedback while minimizing risk. Traditional rehabilitation often relies on repetitive physical therapy in hospital gyms or clinics, which can be limited in intensity and monotony. In contrast, VR-based therapy can increase engagement through game-like scenarios and objective feedback, potentially accelerating recovery by leveraging principles of motor learning and neuroplasticity. Over the past decade, research has shown that VR interventions not only complement conventional therapy but in some cases enhance it – for example, VR balance training can significantly improve postural stability and gait in chronic stroke survivors beyond standard exercise regimes. Overall, the convergence of immersive technology with neurorehabilitation has opened new avenues to motivate patients and measure their progress in ways not possible with traditional methods.
Prof. Mariano Alcañiz and his collaborators have been at the forefront of this VR-driven neurorehabilitation revolution. As director of LabLENI (Laboratory for Immersive Neurotechnologies) in Valencia, he has spearheaded multidisciplinary projects that integrate engineering, clinical neuroscience, and human-computer interaction to advance stroke and TBI rehabilitation. One early notable effort was the development of eBaViR, a custom rehabilitation system built around the Nintendo Wii Balance Board. Introduced in 2011, eBaViR allowed patients with acquired brain injury to practice balance exercises in a virtual environment using affordable gaming hardware. In a pilot randomized trial, this system proved to be a safe and effective alternative to conventional balance training, yielding significant improvements in patients’ static balance. Such work was pioneering in showing that low-cost consumer technology could be repurposed for clinical therapy without sacrificing efficacy. Around the same time, Prof. Alcañiz’s team also created the BioTrak platform – a virtual reality setup for balance rehabilitation – and conducted rigorous evaluations of its effectiveness and patient satisfaction. Through these projects, his group demonstrated how immersive technology could be translated from the lab to the clinic, providing engaging rehabilitation exercises that objectively track patient performance. Prof. Alcañiz essentially laid the groundwork for evidence-based virtual rehabilitation, emphasizing both innovation and clinical validation early on.
A hallmark of Prof. Alcañiz’s neurorehabilitation research is the integration of motion tracking and quantitative assessment into therapeutic VR tasks. His team leveraged devices like Microsoft’s Kinect sensor to capture full-body movements without wearables, enabling precise measurement of a patient’s kinematics during therapy. For instance, in a series of studies on post-stroke gait and balance, they used Kinect-based systems to analyze patients’ steps and weight shifts during virtual exercises. These studies not only delivered rehabilitation (e.g. stepping in place to hit virtual targets for balance training) but also collected rich data on gait parameters. Notably, a 2015 randomized controlled trial showed that a VR-based stepping exercise program for chronic stroke patients led to significant improvements in balance, and even indirectly improved gait speed and stability in that population. By comparing pre- and post-training metrics, the team could objectively document gains that might be missed by coarse clinical scales alone. In parallel, Prof. Alcañiz’s group validated the accuracy of low-cost motion capture for clinical use. In a 2019 study, they confirmed that a Kinect v2 camera system achieved strong agreement with gold-standard clinical gait tests, with excellent inter- and intra-rater reliability for key spatiotemporal gait measures. Their results suggested that Kinect-based gait analysis can serve as a credible, low-cost alternative to expensive laboratory systems for assessing walking impairments in stroke survivors. This work was crucial in establishing that objective movement data – essential for tracking recovery – can be obtained seamlessly during VR therapy. It paved the way for therapists to use accessible technology to both train patients and quantitatively monitor improvements (for example, detecting even subtle changes in step length or balance sway over the course of rehabilitation).
Another cross-cutting theme in Prof. Alcañiz’s contributions is telerehabilitation – extending therapy beyond the clinic using networked VR systems. Anticipating the need for remote rehabilitation (which became even more evident in recent years), his team developed home-based VR programs so that patients with stroke could continue engaging exercises in their own living rooms under remote supervision. In a landmark study, they conducted a single-blind randomized trial comparing an in-clinic VR balance training program to an identically structured VR telerehabilitation program delivered at home. The findings were encouraging: patients in the home-based VR group improved their balance just as much as those training in the hospital, with no significant differences in any clinical outcome measure. Moreover, both groups reported high usability and motivation with the VR system, indicating stroke survivors found the technology user-friendly and engaging whether used in clinic or at home. Critically, the home-based approach led to notable cost savings (hundreds of dollars less per patient) compared to traditional therapy schedules. These results demonstrated that VR-based therapy can be effectively and safely delivered remotely, breaking geographical barriers to care. Prof. Alcañiz’s telerehabilitation work was among the first to rigorously prove that virtual rehab at home can match clinic-based outcomes. This has had significant impact on how rehabilitation services might be organized, suggesting a future where patients do supervised rehab exercises via VR in a telerehab platform – increasing the intensity and duration of therapy without increasing burden on clinics.
Prof. Alcañiz also pushed the boundaries of upper-limb rehabilitation by harnessing mixed reality and multi-sensory feedback. Traditional stroke therapy for arms and hands can be tedious, so his team created engaging MR environments to spur better recovery. In 2016, he and colleagues introduced a portable mixed reality tabletop system that transforms an ordinary table into an interactive rehab workspace. In this system, chronic stroke patients practiced a wide range of arm, hand, and finger movements by interacting with both physical objects and their virtual counterparts – for example, reaching out to grab a tangible block that is also represented in a virtual game. The MR setup provided immediate audiovisual feedback for each movement, and tasks were presented in a gamified format to maintain motivation. A clinical study evaluating this system found significant improvements in arm function and hand dexterity after a course of MR-based training. Patients showed measurable gains in standard tests like the Wolf Motor Function Test and Box-and-Blocks, indicating that the intensive, feedback-rich practice translated into real functional improvements. Importantly, the study concluded that this mixed reality approach was not only effective but also well-accepted by patients, and due to the low cost and portability of the setup, could be readily deployed in rehabilitation centers). This illustrates Prof. Alcañiz’s commitment to practical innovation – developing rehab technologies that adhere to motor learning principles (repetition, feedback, task variability) while ensuring they are accessible and appealing in clinical practice. Building on this work, his team later explored augmenting VR/MR therapy with neuromodulation techniques. In chronic stroke survivors with severe arm paralysis, they investigated the combination of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) with VR-based motor exercises. The rationale was that non-invasive brain stimulation might prime the motor cortex to better exploit the virtual training. Their randomized trial in 2021 provided early evidence that coupling tDCS with VR could further enhance upper-limb function recovery in severe cases, a promising finding that merges neurotechnology with immersive rehab. Through these efforts, Prof. Alcañiz has expanded VR neurorehabilitation from primarily gait and balance retraining into the realm of fine motor recovery, integrating novel interfaces and even brain stimulation to maximize outcomes.
Beyond physical motor skills, Prof. Alcañiz recognized that neurorehabilitation must also address cognitive and psychosocial deficits – areas where VR can offer unique therapeutic opportunities. Traumatic brain injury, for example, often impairs self-awareness (patients may not fully recognize their own cognitive or behavioral limitations) and social skills. To tackle this, his group designed videogame-based group therapy in virtual environments to gently improve insight and social interaction in TBI patients. In one study, groups of individuals with chronic TBI participated in collaborative and competitive VR games that required teamwork, strategy, and reflection on performance. Over several months of weekly sessions, patients not only practiced cognitive tasks in a fun context but also received feedback aimed at increasing their awareness of their own strengths and deficits. The results showed clear benefits: participants demonstrated improved self-awareness and better social skills after undergoing the VR group therapy. Clinically, this was evidenced by positive changes in standardized self-awareness interviews and observer-rated behavior scales. Moreover, the approach was deemed effective and motivating by the patients themselves, highlighting how immersive games can engage individuals who might be resistant to traditional therapy. In another line of work focusing on stroke survivors with cognitive impairments, Prof. Alcañiz’s team examined how gamification and competition within VR could boost attention and executive function rehabilitation. They created attention-training tasks in VR (for instance, virtual reality exercises that challenge the user to split attention or react quickly to stimuli) and introduced competitive elements (patients could compete against a computer or other participants for high scores). A 2020 randomized trial found that patients who underwent the competitive VR training showed significantly greater improvements in multiple cognitive domains of attention (sustained, selective, etc.) compared to those who did similar tasks without competitive feedback. The competitive group also reported higher enjoyment and motivation, suggesting that competition can enhance both the effectiveness and the engagement of cognitive rehabilitation. These findings are noteworthy because maintaining motivation in post-stroke cognitive rehab is often challenging; VR allowed the incorporation of motivational principles (points, challenges, social comparison) that translated into better outcomes. Additionally, Prof. Alcañiz’s team has utilized VR to retrain functional cognition in ecological scenarios – for example, developing a street-crossing simulator to help stroke patients (including those with spatial neglect) relearn safe street navigation. By practicing in a virtual street with traffic, patients could improve their visuo-spatial attention and reaction in a life-like task without real danger. Across these studies in cognitive and functional rehabilitation, the common thread is a user-centered design of VR interventions: tasks are made engaging, relevant to daily life, and adaptable to the user’s abilities, which in turn drives better adherence and outcomes.
An important aspect that underlies Prof. Alcañiz’s work is attention to embodiment, presence, and emotional engagement in virtual rehabilitation. Immersive technologies offer the distinct advantage of placing users in a first-person perspective within virtual worlds, sometimes even with a virtual body (avatar) representing themselves. Prof. Alcañiz’s group explored how stroke patients experience this sense of embodiment in VR and whether it differs from healthy individuals. In a 2019 study, they measured stroke survivors’ sense of presence (feeling “transported” into the virtual scene) and embodiment (feeling that the virtual body or limbs are one’s own) during rehabilitation scenarios. Interestingly, the results provided the first evidence that patients post-stroke can indeed experience embodiment and presence similarly to healthy participants, albeit a bit less intensely on average. This means that despite neurological damage, patients still benefit from the illusion of being inside the virtual environment and owning the avatar’s movements – psychological states that can positively influence motor relearning. Such insights guide how VR therapy is designed: to maximize therapeutic benefit, scenarios should be immersive and personalized enough that patients feel truly “in” them, practicing skills as if in real life. Moreover, Prof. Alcañiz has been keen on incorporating biometric monitoring into VR therapy sessions, not only to assess impairment (as in his autism research) but to ensure patient comfort and optimal challenge levels. For example, his team validated the use of wearable devices like the Empatica E4 wristband to continuously measure physiological signals (e.g. electrodermal activity) during rehabilitation exercises. By tracking a patient’s arousal or stress responses in real time, the VR system could potentially flag if a task is causing excessive frustration or conversely if the patient is too disengaged, enabling therapists to adjust difficulty on the fly. This kind of closed-loop monitoring is part of Prof. Alcañiz’s broader vision of adaptive rehabilitation: much like his adaptive interventions in ASD, in neurorehab he has laid the groundwork for systems that respond to the user’s state – for instance, slowing down a task if biosignals indicate overload, or adding challenge when the patient is ready. He also emphasized technology acceptance factors, conducting studies on how different VR hardware might impact the user’s experience. As VR headsets evolved, his team compared devices (such as Oculus Rift vs. HTC Vive) for feasibility in rehabilitation scenarios, finding that both offered excellent and comparable performance for tracking and interaction, with the Vive providing a larger tracking area in space. These comparisons reassured practitioners that newer consumer headsets were suitable for therapeutic use, allowing LabLENI’s interventions to stay at the cutting edge of technology without compromising user experience.
Crucially, Prof. Alcañiz’s research integrates clinical, technological, and usability perspectives in every project – a comprehensive approach that has been key to its success. All of the VR/MR systems developed by his team have been evaluated not just for their clinical outcomes, but also for how patients and clinicians interact with them. For instance, the VR balance programs were assessed with standardized usability scales and intrinsic motivation questionnaires, showing that patients found them enjoyable and easy to use on par with traditional therapy. In the BioTrak system study, they explicitly analyzed patient satisfaction alongside balance improvements, reflecting an early appreciation that therapy tools must be acceptable to users to make a real-world impact. Likewise, the group therapy for TBI collected extensive participant feedback (using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory) to gauge engagement levels, which informed iterative design improvements. This user-centric philosophy ensured that the interventions were not only effective on paper but also feasible and appealing in practice. On the clinical side, Prof. Alcañiz’s collaborations with neurologists and rehabilitation specialists (evident from the frequent co-authorship of clinicians in his publications) meant that the VR exercises were grounded in therapeutic principles and addressed real patient needs. It also enabled rigorous testing through controlled trials and longitudinal studies, which lent scientific credibility to the outcomes. Few researchers in the early 2010s were conducting RCTs or multi-site studies with VR rehab tools; by doing so, his team provided some of the strongest evidence at the time that VR-based rehabilitation can produce meaningful functional gains and even long-term maintenance of those gains. Additionally, economic considerations were integrated: the cost-benefit analyses in the telerehabilitation trial showed tangible savings, an important factor for healthcare adoption. By addressing effectiveness, usability, and cost simultaneously, Prof. Alcañiz set a model for how to introduce new technology into rehabilitation in a holistic manner. The result is a body of work that doesn’t just propose theoretical systems, but delivers validated solutions ready for integration into rehabilitation programs – a synergy of high-tech innovation with human-centered care.
Novelty and Impact
Prof. Alcañiz’s contributions in VR/MR-based neurorehabilitation have been novel in several dimensions. When he began this work, using videogame technology for serious motor rehabilitation was an emerging idea – many early efforts were isolated case studies or used expensive virtual reality setups not widely available. Alcañiz’s approach was groundbreaking in that he democratized virtual rehabilitation, showing that even low-cost, widely available hardware (like Wii boards and Kinect cameras) could be harnessed to achieve clinical-grade therapy results. This was a clear departure from prior methods that either stuck to conventional tools (balance beams, static bikes) or required specialized lab equipment. By publishing robust evidence of success, he encouraged the rehabilitation field to adopt these accessible technologies, effectively lowering the entry barrier for clinics to implement VR. The eBaViR study, for example, became a reference point for many subsequent projects worldwide exploring gaming devices in therapy, and has been cited by hundreds of follow-up studies. In addition, Prof. Alcañiz was among the first to emphasize objective data collection and analysis within rehab sessions. Before, a therapist’s subjective observation or periodic clinical tests were the main way to gauge patient progress. His VR systems automatically recorded performance metrics (speed, accuracy, sway, etc.) every session, introducing a data-driven mentality to rehabilitation. This was quite innovative – as noted in one review a few years later, “most VR in stroke rehabilitation has focused on training outcomes, with relatively few studies leveraging the technology for detailed quantitative assessment” (paraphrasing). Alcañiz filled this gap by marrying rehabilitation with quantitative biosensing, much like his XR-based behavioral biomarkers concept in other domains. This not only improved the precision of therapy monitoring but also allowed new research questions to be asked (e.g., can subtle changes in movement variability predict recovery trajectories? Can physiological stress responses indicate when a patient is pushing too hard?). His work on biometric monitoring in VR, spanning from motion tracking to EDA signals, was ahead of the curve in treating rehabilitation as an optimization problem with real-time feedback loops rather than a one-size-fits-all routine.
The breadth of application in Prof. Alcañiz’s neurorehabilitation portfolio also contributes to its novelty. He did not confine his efforts to a single impairment or technology; instead, he explored VR and MR across multiple functional domains (balance, gait, upper limb, cognition, social interaction) and multiple patient populations (stroke, TBI, even addressing issues like neglect and self-awareness). This cross-disciplinary reach was relatively unique, as many researchers specialized in either motor or cognitive rehab, or a specific patient group. By drawing parallels and applying lessons from one area to another, his team introduced concepts like competition and gamification (common in physical rehab games) into cognitive rehab for attention, and conversely brought cognitive elements (like dual-task training, memory games) into physical rehab scenarios to mirror real-life demands. They also combined modalities in novel ways – for example, integrating a tangible tabletop (physical objects) into a virtual game for arm rehabilitation, effectively blending the physical and virtual in a mixed reality approach when most were using pure VR or pure physical therapy. This willingness to innovate at the intersections (physical–cognitive, virtual–real, clinical–home, therapy–assessment) has had a significant influence on the field. Today, many rehabilitation technology researchers strive for holistic systems that treat the “whole patient,” an approach that Prof. Alcañiz’s body of work anticipated and exemplified.
The impact of these contributions is evident on multiple levels. Scientifically, Prof. Alcañiz’s studies provided much-needed evidence that immersive technology is not just a gimmick but a viable therapeutic modality. His randomized trials in particular helped convince the medical community that VR systems can yield rehabilitation outcomes comparable to traditional therapy. This was critical in an era when clinicians were cautious about investing time or money into VR; having data showing equal (and sometimes superior) improvements, maintained even in chronic patients, legitimized VR in neurorehabilitation. Consequently, his work has been cited in expert guidelines and meta-analyses that inform best practices for stroke rehab – for instance, later reviews noted that VR training tends to be more effective than or at least as effective as conventional therapy for improving balance and gait, an understanding to which Alcañiz’s trials contributed. Clinically, several concepts pioneered by his team have translated into practice. The notion of tele-rehab via VR is increasingly adopted by rehabilitation hospitals and telehealth services, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, echoing the model he tested in 2015. The principle that even patients who live far from rehab centers can receive high-quality, interactive therapy at home is now influencing healthcare delivery, improving access for rural patients and easing burdens on families. Similarly, the use of gaming consoles and VR kits in stroke units – once unconventional – is becoming commonplace, with therapists using Xbox Kinect or VR headsets for engaging patients in exercises. Many of these implementations trace back to the evidence base that LabLENI and collaborators built. There is also a growing appreciation for maintaining patient motivation and engagement, something Alcañiz’s gamified interventions prioritized. Rehabilitation programs now more often include elements of challenge and play (points, virtual environments, competitive tasks) to keep patients active in their recovery, recognizing that motivation can significantly impact outcomes. On the research front, his integration of multimodal data has seeded new investigations: for example, other groups are now exploring wearable biosensors during rehab or AI algorithms that adapt therapy difficulty in real time – approaches directly inspired by the kind of work Prof. Alcañiz championed.
In terms of broader impact, Prof. Alcañiz’s interdisciplinary methodology – combining clinical insight, engineering innovation, and user experience research – has served as a template for subsequent projects in neurorehabilitation technology. He effectively built a bridge between medical professionals and technologists, demonstrating through successful projects that close collaboration is necessary to create truly effective rehab tools. The studies coming out of his team often involved neurologists, physical therapists, engineers, and even psychologists, which helped ensure that the resulting VR systems were well-rounded. This collaborative spirit has influenced training and funding in the field: many new researchers in rehabilitation technology are encouraged to adopt a similarly holistic lens, and funding bodies often cite the need for technology to have proven usability and effectiveness (a value that his work highlighted). Moreover, his focus on accessible solutions has had a societal impact – by emphasizing low-cost and scalable tech, he addressed health equity, aiming for therapies that could reach resource-limited settings. For example, showing that a $100 gaming device could deliver rehab means that even clinics in developing regions might implement VR therapy without huge investments, ultimately benefiting a wider patient population. Finally, the sustainability of recovery is a theme underscored by his research on maintenance of gains and late chronic improvements. This assures clinicians and patients that engaging with these new interventions can have lasting benefits, not just short-term novelty effects. In summary, Prof. Alcañiz’s work in neurorehabilitation using VR/MR has been highly influential, accelerating the acceptance of immersive tech in mainstream rehabilitation and inspiring a wave of innovation that continues to evolve therapy for neurological conditions.
Conclusion
Prof. Mariano Alcañiz and his collaborators have made significant and far-reaching contributions to neurorehabilitation by leveraging virtual and mixed reality technologies. Through a series of pioneering projects over the last decade, they have redefined how rehabilitation can be delivered and measured. In summary, his team demonstrated that immersive virtual environments can effectively serve both as engaging therapeutic media (to practice motor and cognitive skills in realistic scenarios) and as precise measurement tools (capturing performance and physiological data). They introduced novel rehabilitation systems – from VR balance games and at-home therapy platforms to mixed reality arm training tables – and validated them in clinical trials, showing improvements in balance, gait, upper-limb function, attention, and social-cognitive skills across stroke and TBI populations. A core element of Prof. Alcañiz’s legacy is the integration of technology with patient-centered care: his work consistently incorporated objective tracking (Kinect motion capture, biosensors), adaptive feedback (gamification, difficulty adjustment), and evaluation of user experience (usability, motivation). By doing so, he essentially bridged the gap between traditional neurorehabilitation and modern interactive technology, creating interventions that are both rigorously evidence-based and deeply engaging for patients. Prof. Alcañiz’s vision – that immersive technology, grounded in sound clinical practice, can vastly improve recovery and quality of life for people with neurological injuries – is now widely accepted, in no small part due to the groundwork laid by his research. His contributions have helped transform virtual rehabilitation from a niche experiment into a blossoming field, pointing towards a future where stroke and TBI patients worldwide might routinely step into virtual worlds to regain real-world function.
Some related papers
Lloréns, R., Alcañiz, M., Colomer, C., & Navarro, M. D. (2012). Balance recovery through virtual stepping exercises using Kinect skeleton tracking: a follow-up study with chronic stroke patients. Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine 2012, 108-112.
Gil-Gómez, J. A., Lloréns, R., Alcañiz, M., & Colomer, C. (2011). Effectiveness of a Wii balance board-based system (eBaViR) for balance rehabilitation: a pilot randomized clinical trial in patients with acquired brain injury. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 8, 1-10.
Lloréns, R., Noé, E., Colomer, C., & Alcañiz, M. (2015). Effectiveness, usability, and cost-benefit of a virtual reality–based telerehabilitation program for balance recovery after stroke: A randomized controlled trial. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 96(3), 418-425.
Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Alcañiz, M., & Llorens, R. (2018). Comparison of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive: feasibility for virtual reality-based exploration, navigation, exergaming, and rehabilitation. Games for health journal, 7(3), 151-156.
Lloréns, R., Colomer-Font, C., Alcañiz, M., & Noé-Sebastián, E. (2013). BioTrak: análisis de efectividad y satisfacción de un sistema de realidad virtual para la rehabilitación del equilibrio en pacientes con daño cerebral. Neurología, 28(5), 268-275.
Lloréns, R., Gil-Gómez, J. A., Alcañiz, M., Colomer, C., & Noé, E. (2015). Improvement in balance using a virtual reality-based stepping exercise: a randomized controlled trial involving individuals with chronic stroke. Clinical rehabilitation, 29(3), 261-268.
Colomer, C., Llorens, R., Noé, E., & Alcañiz, M. (2016). Effect of a mixed reality-based intervention on arm, hand, and finger function on chronic stroke. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 13, 1-11.
Llorens, R., Gil-Gómez, J. A., Mesa-Gresa, P., Alcañiz, M., Colomer, C., & Noé, E. (2011, June). BioTrak: A comprehensive overview. In 2011 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Latorre, J., Colomer, C., Alcañiz, M., & Llorens, R. (2019). Gait analysis with the Kinect v2: Normative study with healthy individuals and comprehensive study of its sensitivity, validity, and reliability in individuals with stroke. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 16, 1-11.
Latorre, J., Llorens, R., Colomer, C., & Alcañiz, M. (2018). Reliability and comparison of Kinect-based methods for estimating spatiotemporal gait parameters of healthy and post-stroke individuals. Journal of biomechanics, 72, 268-273.
Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Alcañiz, M., & Llorens, R. (2019). Embodiment and presence in virtual reality after stroke. A comparative study with healthy subjects. Frontiers in neurology, 10, 1061.
Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Llorens, R., Alcañiz, M., & Noé, E. (2016). Feasibility of a walking virtual reality system for rehabilitation: objective and subjective parameters. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 13, 1-10.
Navarro, M. D., Lloréns, R., Noé, E., Ferri, J., & Alcañiz, M. (2013). Validation of a low-cost virtual reality system for training street-crossing. A comparative study in healthy, neglected and non-neglected stroke individuals. Neuropsychological rehabilitation, 23(4), 597-618.
Llorens, R., Fuentes, M. A., Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Alcañiz, M., Colomer, C., & Noé, E. (2021). Effectiveness of a combined transcranial direct current stimulation and virtual reality-based intervention on upper limb function in chronic individuals post-stroke with persistent severe hemiparesis: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 18, 1-13.
Llorens, R., Noé, E., Ferri, J., & Alcañiz, M. (2015). Videogame-based group therapy to improve self-awareness and social skills after traumatic brain injury. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 12, 1-9.
Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Alcañiz, M., & Llorens, R. (2019, July). Reliability of the Empatica E4 wristband to measure electrodermal activity to emotional stimuli. In 2019 international conference on virtual rehabilitation (ICVR) (pp. 1-2). IEEE.
Lloréns, R., Navarro, M. D., Alcañiz, M., & Noé, E. (2012). Therapeutic effectiveness of a virtual reality game in self-awareness after acquired brain injury. Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine 2012, 297-301.
Llorens, R., Colomer-Font, C., Alcañiz, M., & Noé-Sebastián, E. (2013). BioTrak virtual reality system: effectiveness and satisfaction analysis for balance rehabilitation in patients with brain injury. Neurología (English Edition), 28(5), 268-275.
Lloréns, R., Noé, E., Naranjo, V., Borrego, A., Latorre, J., & Alcañiz, M. (2015). Tracking systems for virtual rehabilitation: Objective performance vs. subjective experience. A practical scenario. Sensors, 15(3), 6586-6606.
Navarro, M. D., Llorens, R., Borrego, A., Alcañiz, M., Noé, E., & Ferri, J. (2020). Competition enhances the effectiveness and motivation of attention rehabilitation after stroke. A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 14, 575403.
Fuentes, M. A., Borrego, A., Latorre, J., Colomer, C., Alcañiz, M., Sánchez-Ledesma, M. J., … & Llorens, R. (2018). Combined transcranial direct current stimulation and virtual reality-based paradigm for upper limb rehabilitation in individuals with restricted movements. A feasibility study with a chronic stroke survivor with severe hemiparesis. Journal of medical systems, 42, 1-9.
Albiol-Pérez, S., Gil-Gómez, J. A., Llorens, R., Alcaniz, M., & Font, C. C. (2013). The role of virtual motor rehabilitation: a quantitative analysis between acute and chronic patients with acquired brain injury. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 18(1), 391-398.
Lloréns, R., Albiol, S., Gil-Gómez, J. A., Alcañiz, M., Colomer, C., & Noé, E. (2014). Balance rehabilitation using custom-made Wii Balance Board exercises: clinical effectiveness and maintenance of gains in an acquired brain injury population. International Journal on Disability and Human Development, 13(3), 327-332.
Llorens, R., Noé, E., Alcañiz, M., & Deutsch, J. E. (2018). Time since injury limits but does not prevent improvement and maintenance of gains in balance in chronic stroke. Brain injury, 32(3), 303-309.
Llorens, R., Marín, C., Ortega, M., Alcaniz, M., Colomer, C., Navarro, M. D., & Noé, E. (2012). Upper limb tracking using depth information for rehabilitative tangible tabletop systems. In 9th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality & Associated Technologies. Laval, France: The University of Reading (pp. 463-466).
Lloréns, R., Alcañiz, M., Navarro, M. D., Ferri, J., & Noé, E. (2013, August). Self-awareness rehabilitation through a multi-touch virtual game board after acquired brain injury. In 2013 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (ICVR) (pp. 134-138). IEEE.
Latorre, J., Llorens, R., Borrego, A., Alcañiz, M., Colomer, C., & Noé, E. (2017, June). A low-cost Kinect™ for Windows® v2-based gait analysis system. In 2017 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (Icvr) (pp. 1-2). IEEE.