Deriving Motor States and Mobility Metrics from Gamified Augmented Reality Rehabilitation Exercises in People with Parkinson’s Disease

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience mobility impairments that impact daily functioning, yet conventional clinical assessments provide limited insight into real-world mobility. This study evaluated motor-state classification and the concurrent validity of mobility metrics derived from augmented-reality (AR) glasses against a markerless motion capture system (Theia3D) during gamified AR exercises. Fifteen participants with PD completed five gamified AR exercises measured with both systems. Motor-state segments included straight walking, turning, squatting, and sit-to-stand/stand-to-sit transfers, from which the following mobility metrics were derived: step length, gait speed, cadence, transfer and squat durations, squat depth, turn duration, and peak turn angular velocity. We found excellent between-systems consistency for head position (X, Y, Z) and yaw-angle time series (ICC(c,1) > 0.932). The AR-based motor-state classification showed high accuracy, with F1-scores of 0.947–1.000. Absolute agreement with Theia3D was excellent for all mobility metrics (ICC(A,1) > 0.904), except for cadence during straight walking and peak angular velocity during turns, which were good and moderate (ICC(A,1) = 0.890, ICC(A,1) = 0.477, respectively). These results indicate that motor states and associated mobility metrics can be accurately derived during gamified AR exercises, verified in a controlled laboratory environment in people with mild to moderate PD, a necessary first step towards unobtrusive derivation of mobility metrics during in-clinic and at-home AR neurorehabilitation exercise programs.