TheraTEX

Hemiparesis, or one-sided partial paralysis, impairs motor function on one side of the body. Those affected are dependent on regular therapy and assistance programs to maintain and improve their condition in everyday life.

The use of smart textiles—functional garments equipped with sensors—opens up new therapeutic approaches. The goal of the project was the development of a real-time analysis and feedback system in the form of a new e-textile.

Innovative sensors in the fabric record the mobility, muscle condition, and posture of patients. The data is collected and analysed during everyday activities to give patients individual, situation-specific and real-time feedback delivered as reminders to, for example, correct their posture or use the affected arm.

The smart garment provides both soft and tactile feedback to the body directly through sensors and small motors, and audio feedback as well. Therapists can evaluate and apply the data to develop individualised training programs that can then be optimised with the help of the e-textile.

ART+COM's role in the project was to create an intuitive user interface for the e-textile to facilitate a successful user experience, as well as being responsible for sensor data evaluation and implementation into the overall system. We developed generative narrative engines to translate monotonous and repetitive physiotherapy sessions to engaging stories, adapting to the user's preferences using LLMs and image generation.