How to use teora-Body

teora body is a VR application by living brain for general movement promotion. Its exercises are built as short mini-games that encourage active movement of the upper body — shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand, as well as the trunk.

The application is operated entirely by hand tracking. The headset’s cameras detect your hands and fingers and show them as virtual hands, so you interact with the virtual world using natural movements. No controllers are needed.

teora body is a standalone application. It is separate from teora mind, and no data passes between the two.

Before you start

teora body asks you to move your arms, hands, and upper body actively, so a few things are worth keeping in mind:

• Move only within a range that feels comfortable, and stop right away if anything hurts.
• All exercises can be done while seated. If you feel unsteady on your feet or have trouble with balance, use teora body seated or with something stable to hold on to.
• Keep sessions short — under 20 minutes is recommended — and take a break as soon as you feel unwell.
• Check that the area around you is clear of obstacles, other people, and pets.
• If you use a resistance band with the exercises, check it for damage first, make sure it’s securely fastened, and follow its manufacturer’s instructions.

You’ll need a seat and roughly 1.5 meters of clear space in every direction so you can stretch your arms out. If you’d rather move around during the session, allow for a clear area of about 2x2 meters.

Hand tracking

For hand tracking to work reliably:

• Keep your hands in front of you and within the headset’s field of view. Hands behind your back, under a table, or very close to the headset can’t be detected.
• Use teora body in a well and evenly lit room. Avoid direct sunlight, very dark rooms, and mirrors or reflective surfaces directly in front of you.
• Don’t wear gloves, and push back long sleeves that cover your hands. Large rings or watches with reflective surfaces can interfere with detection.
• Don’t cover one hand with the other.

Gestures

Choosing an exercise

teora body opens in a menu, where you select the exercise you want by touching it with your virtual hand. Choose a difficulty level, then start the exercise.

Recalibrating your position and view

If objects feel too far away or too close, or your field of view doesn’t show what it should, recalibrate: take your preferred position, look straight ahead, and hold the pinch gesture — index fingertip and thumb together — until the view realigns to your current position.

You can also recalibrate from the Recalibrate button in the virtual tablet’s settings.

Leaving the application

Open the menu on the virtual tablet and select Exit.

Difficulty levels

You choose a difficulty level before each exercise. Difficulty affects several things depending on the exercise: how many objects there are to collect, how fast they move, how many obstacles appear, and how many repetitions are required.

If you’re using teora body for the first time, start low and work up.

Good to know: the duration and result shown on the results screen are approximate. The duration covers the time from when the scene loads until the exercise is completed, and the result reflects the outcome measured against the task.

The virtual tablet

The virtual tablet works like a real tablet — you touch it with your virtual hand — except that it floats. You can grab it, move it, and let go of it anywhere, and it stays where you put it.

The tablet shows:

• Exercise name — in the middle of the upper bar
• Difficulty level — in a column on the left side of the screen
• Menu — the three-line button on the left
• Settings — the cogwheel button, below the menu button

Menu options

• Restart exercise — starts the current exercise again
• Exercise selection — returns to the start menu, where you can choose a different exercise
• Exit — opens the menu for choosing the scenario
• The arrow button on the left goes back to the previous page

Settings options

• Recalibrate — recalibrates your height and position
• Instructions — opens the electronic user manual, which you can page through with the arrow buttons and close with the X button on the left
• Info — shows information about the application

Exercises

teora body currently includes three exercises: Rocket, Pumping, and Ice cream catching. Each one packages a functional arm movement into a short mini-game, and all of them can be done seated or standing, with either hand unless stated otherwise.

Rocket

Guide a rocket through the night sky with your finger, collecting floating astronauts while avoiding obstacles.

In the scene

How to play

1. Point at the rocket on its home station with your index finger, and it launches into space.
2. Move your finger to steer. The tip of the rocket follows your fingertip, and the closer your fingertip stays to it, the faster the rocket flies, up to a maximum speed. Move your finger away and the rocket slows down.
3. A batch of collectables and a few obstacles appear at random positions. Guide the rocket to each collectable and steer around the obstacles.
4. Once you’ve collected a full batch, a new one appears. No new obstacles are added.
5. This continues until you reach the required number of collectables, at which point the remaining collectables and obstacles disappear.
6. Steer the rocket back to the home station to land and finish the exercise.

Movement focus

Large, controlled movements of the outstretched or bent arm in all directions, using the shoulder and elbow, combined with precise pointing and hand-eye coordination. Because the collectables appear at random positions, the whole reachable area in front of you gets used.

Tips

• Lead the rocket with calm, even movements rather than quick jerks. It has a maximum speed and won’t catch up any faster.
• If positions at the edges are hard to reach, recalibrate or lower the difficulty level.

Pumping

You’re at the beach, pumping air into empty inflatables with an air pump. A smooth, steady motion gives the best result.

In the scene

How to play

1. Grab the handle of the air pump.
2. Move the handle up and down in a smooth, steady rhythm. Each full stroke pumps air into the inflatable.
3. Watch the gauge and keep your pumping speed in the optimal range. Only a steady rhythm achieves optimal inflation.
4. A set number of strokes fills an inflatable completely, and as it fills, the undefined shape turns into a recognizable figure.
5. Stop pumping once the inflatable is full. Too much air and it pops in a burst of confetti.
6. Carry on with the next inflatable. The exercise ends when all of them are filled.

Movement focus

Repeated bending and stretching of the elbow in an up-and-down movement at a controlled, even pace. The exercise can optionally be combined with an external resistance band to increase the effort when bending the elbow.

Ice cream catching

Scoops of ice cream fall from above, and you catch them by moving a sundae cup from side to side.

In the scene

How to play

1. Hold your hand out in front of you — the sundae cup follows it.
2. Watch where the next scoop is falling and move the cup sideways so the scoop lands in it.
3. Every scoop you catch is added to the stack. A missed scoop falls to the floor and melts.
4. The exercise ends when the time is up.

Movement focus

Sideways movements of the arm across the body and outwards, combined with reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Staying seated and reaching far to the sides brings the trunk into the movement as well.