Project Oculomotor and C-Spine Exercises on Any Wall
Patients recovering from TBI or MVA often present with concurrent cervical and vestibular dysfunction. When the eyes, cervical proprioceptors, and vestibular organs send conflicting signals, the result is dizziness, imbalance, and impaired gaze stability. Projector mode turns any wall or ceiling into a wide-field training surface for oculomotor and cervical proprioception exercises — with live parameter control from your laptop.
The Cervical-Vestibular Rehabilitation Gap
Current tools for combined oculomotor and cervical proprioception training each have significant limitations.
Mobile apps
Screen too small to drive meaningful cervical range of motion. Patients move their eyes, not their head and neck.
Head-mounted lasers
Effective for C-spine proprioception, but limited to a few static flag patterns. No progression tracking or session data.
Paper HEP handouts
No guided targets, no feedback, no data. Compliance and technique are unverifiable.
Mirror exercises
Limited pattern variety. Static only. No way to grade speed, amplitude, or dwell time systematically.
The sensory mismatch model of post-traumatic dizziness — where cervical proprioceptive input conflicts with vestibular and visual signals — requires training across all three systems. Projector-scale patterns bridge this gap by requiring head and neck movement to track targets across a wide visual field.
Treleaven J. "Sensorimotor disturbances in neck disorders affecting postural stability, head and eye movement control." Manual Therapy, 2008.
How Projector Mode Works
Three steps to a full-wall rehabilitation session
Open Projector Mode
Log into the Pro Portal on your laptop. Navigate to Projector Mode and click 'Open Display' — a second browser window opens for the projected image.
Position the Display
Drag the display window to your projector or second monitor. Press F11 for fullscreen. The patient sees only the pattern — no UI, no distractions.
Run the Session
Select a pattern or load a protocol template, adjust parameters in real time, and start the timer. Record pre-session symptoms before you begin and post-session symptoms when you stop. Controls stay on your laptop screen. Link to a patient record for automatic session and outcome logging. After the session, push your calibrated parameters to the patient's home exercises with one click.
No Projector Yet?
Any projector pointed at a wall works. These are solid picks for clinical settings at different price points.
Salange HY300PRO+ Smart 4K Mini Projector
Auto keystone correction and Android OS built in — no external device needed for wireless use.
Netflix-Licensed 1080P Smart Projector
WiFi 6 streaming with telescopic stand — easy to position anywhere in the treatment room.
Mini Projector Dual Control 1080P
Connects to virtually any clinic device — HDMI, USB, TV stick, or wireless.
EyeRehab is not affiliated with any of these products. These are independent recommendations based on clinical suitability.
Tips for Clinics Thinking About a Projector
Brightness & room light
Budget projectors tend to perform best in dim or controlled lighting environments — perfect for clinical exam rooms.
Connectivity
Look for models with HDMI or wireless casting if you want to display directly from laptops or tablets.
Screen surface
A neutral-colored wall or inexpensive projection screen enhances image quality significantly.
15 Pattern Types for Clinical Training
Static patterns for positional awareness, dynamic patterns for pursuit and tracking, optokinetic patterns for visual motion desensitization
Center Target
Single fixation point at screen center. Cervical neutral awareness and postural control.
Cardinal Points
4-8 targets at compass positions, highlighting sequentially. Controlled cervical ROM in each direction.
Grid
Configurable grid (3x3 to 5x5). Targets activate sequentially, randomly, or in patterns. Systematic cervical ROM mapping.
Bullseye
Concentric rings with center target. Graded ROM progression — inner targets for small movements, outer for large.
Horizontal Sweep
Target moves left-right across full width. Horizontal pursuit combined with cervical rotation.
Vertical Sweep
Target moves up-down. Vertical pursuit with cervical flexion and extension.
Circle
Target traces a circular path. Combined multi-plane cervical ROM with smooth pursuit training.
Figure-8
Target traces an infinity pattern. Multi-plane cervical ROM across horizontal and vertical.
Random Walk
Target moves to random positions with configurable dwell time. Unpredictable tracking for reactive proprioception.
Diagonal Cross
Target moves along diagonal paths. Diagonal cervical ROM often undertrained in standard protocols.
Horizontal Stripes
Vertical bars scrolling left or right. Classic OKN drum stimulus for visual dependence desensitization.
Vertical Stripes
Horizontal bars scrolling up or down. Vertical optokinetic pathway training.
Dot Field
Random dots flowing in one direction. Ecologically valid optic flow simulation for naturalistic visual motion habituation.
Checkerboard
Scrolling or rotating checkerboard grid. Strong vection stimulus for advanced patients with visual motion sensitivity.
Concentric Rings
Expanding or contracting concentric circles. Radial optokinetic flow for depth-plane visual motion training.
Adjust Every Parameter in Real Time
No need to stop the session. Changes apply instantly to the projected display.
Speed
0.5x to 3x. Slow for early-stage rehabilitation, fast for advanced challenge.
Target Size
Small, medium, or large. Smaller targets increase oculomotor demand.
Amplitude
25% to 100% of screen. Controls how far the patient must move their head.
Dwell Time
1-10 seconds at each position. Longer for positional awareness, shorter for reaction training.
Color Theme
White, blue, or green on black. High-contrast for projector visibility.
Trail
Off, short, or long. Shows the target's motion path for visual feedback.
Audio Metronome
40-200 BPM with adjustable volume. Auditory pacing cue for head movement speed during cervical proprioception and oculomotor exercises. Helps patients maintain consistent movement tempo without visual distraction.
Stripe Density
4 to 40 stripes. Lower density for early-stage habituation, higher density increases visual stimulus intensity.
Scroll Direction
Left, right, up, down, clockwise, or counterclockwise. Train specific optokinetic pathways in isolation.
Contrast
25% to 100%. Reduce contrast for sensitive patients, increase for stronger visual challenge.
Grading challenge is straightforward: reduce amplitude and increase dwell time for early-stage patients; increase speed and reduce target size for advanced training. The audio metronome helps enforce consistent head movement pacing — set a slow BPM for controlled cervical ROM work, or faster for reactive training. For optokinetic patterns, start with low density and reduced contrast, then progress as tolerance improves.
Protocol Templates: Multi-Step Treatment Sequences
Build structured treatment sequences from any combination of patterns and parameters. Load evidence-based templates or save your own from completed sessions.
Pre-Built Clinical Templates
Eight protocols grounded in vestibular rehabilitation CPGs and published RCTs — VOR gaze stabilization, smooth pursuit progression, saccadic training, OKN desensitization, and more. Load and run in seconds.
Save Sessions as Protocols
Ran a session that worked? Save it as a reusable protocol with one click. Every pattern, duration, and parameter is captured.
Auto-Play Step Progression
Steps advance automatically based on configured durations. Skip forward, go back, or pause on any step with manual override.
Duplicate and Customize
Clone any template to create your own variation. Adjust step order, durations, and parameters for individual patients.
Included Templates
VOR x1 Gaze Stabilization — Horizontal
Progressive gaze stabilization across 8 steps with increasing speed and complexity.
Smooth Pursuit Training Progression
Horizontal, vertical, circular, and figure-8 pursuits with graded amplitude.
Saccadic Eye Movement Training
Cardinal points and grid-based saccade training from simple to complex.
OKN Desensitization — Visual Vertigo
Graduated optokinetic exposure from low to high stimulus intensity.
VOR x2 Advanced Gaze Stabilization
Advanced gaze stabilization with simultaneous head and target movement.
Cawthorne-Cooksey Screen Protocol
Classic vestibular rehabilitation sequence adapted for projector delivery.
Concussion Oculomotor Rehab (VOMS-Based)
Targets each VOMS domain: pursuits, saccades, convergence, and VOR.
OKN Rehab — Unilateral Vestibular Loss
Progressive OKN exposure targeting the affected side for vestibular compensation.
Built-In Outcome Tracking
The only projector-based rehabilitation tool that captures symptom data alongside session parameters — turning every session into measurable outcome data.
Pre/Post Symptom Capture
Record five symptom metrics (dizziness, brain fog, headache, eye strain, nausea) on a 0-10 scale before and after each session. See the delta instantly in the session summary.
Automatic Symptom Delta
Session summaries show per-symptom change with color coding — green for improvement, red for worsening. Objective data for clinical decisions and documentation.
Session History & Trend Charts
Every in-clinic session appears on the patient's record with patterns used, durations, parameters, and symptom scores. Trend charts visualize symptom trajectories across visits.
One Click: In-Clinic Parameters to Home Exercises
After a projector session, push the calibrated exercise levels directly to the patient's mobile app. The parameters you dialed in during the session become their new home exercise baseline.
Automatic Parameter Mapping
Projector patterns and speeds are algorithmically mapped to mobile exercise types and difficulty levels. Pursuits, saccades, VOR, convergence, and optokinetic exercises are all covered.
One-Click Prescription
After saving a session, click "Set Home Exercises" in the session summary. The system maps your in-clinic settings to mobile exercise parameters and applies them to the patient's app.
Patient Notification
The patient sees a "Updated by your therapist" badge on their exercise cards in the mobile app. The badge stays visible for 7 days so patients know their program was adjusted.
Only Assigned Exercises
The bridge only updates exercises already assigned to the patient. It never auto-assigns new exercise types — you remain in control of the treatment plan.
Clinical Applications
Post-TBI Cervical Proprioception
Retrain cervical positional sense after traumatic brain injury. Static patterns for controlled ROM, dynamic patterns for smooth pursuit integration.
MVA Whiplash with Vestibular Symptoms
Address concurrent cervical and vestibular dysfunction from motor vehicle accidents. Wide-field patterns require head movement that mobile screens cannot provide.
Oculomotor Dysfunction
Pursuit and saccade training at physiological scale. Projected targets traverse the full visual field, engaging natural eye-head coordination.
Vestibular Hypofunction
Gaze stabilization at scale. VOR adaptation exercises benefit from targets that require significant head rotation to track.
Visual Motion Sensitivity
Graded habituation using large-field moving stimuli. Start with slow, predictable patterns and progress to faster, less predictable movement.
Optokinetic Reflex Training
Full-field scrolling patterns replicate classic OKN drum stimuli at projector scale. Five pattern types with adjustable density, direction, and contrast for systematic visual dependence desensitization.
Key Takeaways for Clinicians
- Projector-scale patterns drive cervical ROM that mobile screens cannot. When the target subtends more than the foveal visual field, the patient must move their head — engaging cervical proprioceptors alongside the oculomotor system.
- Real-time parameter adjustment means one tool handles the full rehabilitation arc. Early-stage patients get slow, large targets with long dwell times. Advanced patients get fast, small targets with unpredictable positioning.
- Session data with pre/post symptom scores logged to patient records provides objective outcome documentation. Trend charts show symptom trajectories across visits for treatment progression and insurance reporting.
- The dual-window architecture keeps clinical controls on the laptop and the patient's view distraction-free. No UI elements, no browser chrome — just the target on a black background.
- Clinic-to-home continuity in one click. After a projector session, push your calibrated parameters to the patient's mobile app. The exercises they do at home start from the level you just validated in the clinic — no manual configuration, no guesswork.
Looking for Real-World Video Training?
Complement canvas patterns with real-world video environments for visual vertigo habituation. Supermarkets, streets, transit — graded by complexity with clinical overlays.
Explore Video EnvironmentsQuestions from Clinicians
Common questions about projector mode setup and clinical use
What equipment do I need?
Are sessions saved to the patient's record?
Can I create custom treatment protocols?
Does this work for home exercise programs?
What's the evidence base for projector-based vestibular training?
How much does it cost?
Can I use it with a TV instead of a projector?
Bring Projector-Based Rehabilitation to Your Clinic
Access projector mode, patient management, and session logging through the Pro Portal.