From Isolation to Social Interaction: A Collaborative eXtended Reality Framework for Co-located Stroke Recovery

Social interaction play a vital role in strokerehabilitation, fostering connection and mutualencouragement among survivors, and healthcareprofessionals. Shared activities provide emotional andsocial benefits, enhancing motivation, improving mentalwell-being, and transforming rehabilitation into a moreengaging and positive process. Yet, literature shows littlework for social scenarios, with most research groupsfocusing on solitary therapies, which lack the interactiveand supportive environment necessary for sustainedrecovery. This work introduces an eXtended Reality (XR)framework that seamlessly transitions between Virtual andAugmented Reality (VR/AR). By leveraging thesetechnologies, we aim to enhance motivation, engagement, andoverall recovery within social setting for strokesurvivors. This provides more adaptable and contextuallyrelevant rehabilitation experiences, capable of transitionfrom immersive environments in VR to AR, overlaying digitalelements onto the real world, allowing stroke survivors topractice exercises within familiar settings or interactwith physical objects.