Preliminary Analysis of an Immersive Low-Latency Audio System for Remote Therapeutic Intervention

Facilitating consistent social involvement is an important factor in enhancing the quality of life for elderly people. As mobility challenges and transportation gaps leave many older individuals confined to their homes, there's a growing need to create opportunities for remote assistance and social connection within the comfort of their own homes. The paper addresses such a scenario by tackling some of the challenges related to an immersive low-latency audio system designed to connect elderly users to social operators, for therapeutic interventions, such as rehabilitative exercises or music-assisted therapies. The system uses Ambisonic technology to deliver spatial audio to enhance realism and deepen user immersion and low latency communication to allow for a real-time interaction. To assess its impact, the study analyses physiological responses, specifically skin conductance, as a potential indicator of user engagement. Furthermore, subjective listening tests are conducted to study how the operator is impaired by the network in evaluating the person's motor skills and engagement. This test allows to determine acceptable latency thresholds, beyond which some music therapy interventions become unfeasible.