Citation

Weaver TB, Ma C, Laing AC. J. Appl. Biomech. 2016; 33(1): 48-55.

Affiliation

Injury Biomechanics and Aging Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/jab.2015-0295

PMID

27735224

Abstract

The Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) has become popular as a low-cost alternative to research-grade force plates. The purposes of this study were to characterize a series of technical specifications for the WBB, to compare balance control metrics derived from time-varying center of pressure (COP) signals collected simultaneously from a WBB and a research-grade force plate, and to investigate the effects of battery life. Drift, linearity, hysteresis, mass accuracy, uniformity of response and COP accuracy were assessed from a WBB. Additionally, six participants completed an eyes-closed quiet standing task on the WBB (at three battery life levels) mounted on a force plate while sway was simultaneously measured by both systems. Characterization results were all associated with less than 1% error. R(2) values reflecting WBB sensor linearity were >0.99. Known and measured COP differences were lowest at the center of the WBB and greatest at the corners. Between-device differences in quiet stance COP summary metrics were of limited clinical significance. Lastly, battery life did not affect WBB COP accuracy, but did influence 2 of 8 quiet stance WBB parameters. This study provides general support for the WBB as a low-cost alternative to research-grade force plates for quantifying COP movement during standing.

Language: en