Association Between Embodiment of a Muscular Avatar and Muscle Performance in Virtual Reality for Chronic Low Back Pain: Exploratory Pre-Post Study

Yuichiro Nakaso   ¹ , PT, PhD ;   Yong-Hao Hu   ² , MSc ;   Yukiko Shiro   ^{1, 3} , PT, PhD ;   Masayuki Inoue   ^{1, 4} , PT, PhD ;   Takafumi Kanaya   ⁵ , MAS, MD ;   Takuto Nakamura   ⁶ , PhD ;   Takuji Narumi   ² , PhD ;   Takahiro Ushida   ^{1, 4} , MD, PhD

¹ Department of Pain Medicine, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi, Japan

² Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan

³ Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nagoya Gakuin University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

⁴ Institute of Physical Fitness, Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi, Japan

⁵ Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan

⁶ D3 Center, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan