Six Rice University engineering students have built a system that turns the monotony of stroke recovery into something patients might actually want to do at home. TacTile, developed by graduating seniors Amelia Pillar, Avery Janenda, Brian Mercado, Hannah Wixom, Mina Schepmann and Tomi Kuye, transforms upper-extremity rehabilitation into interactive gameplay—a simple idea with profound implications for the hundreds of thousands of stroke survivors who struggle to stay motivated through at-home therapy.
The challenge the team identified is painfully real. After leaving the clinic, stroke patients are expected to perform hundreds of repetitive exercises daily on their own, often for months. That relentless monotony leads many to abandon their therapy, ultimately slowing or stalling their recovery. "After a stroke, patients might spend an hour a day in clinical rehab, but they're expected to continue hundreds of repetitive exercises at home," Pillar explained. "That can be incredibly monotonous. We wanted to create something that makes the rehab process more engaging while also helping patients actually see their progress over time."
TacTile's elegance lies in its modularity. The system consists of interchangeable tiles, each with sensor tops designed to target different movements—wrist, fingers and elbow. These tiles function as game controllers, so when a patient plays a game on a screen, they're simultaneously performing therapy. "Essentially, the user is playing games on a screen while interacting with the tiles," Kuye said. "Behind the scenes, we're tracking metrics like speed, accuracy and how often they hit targets. That data helps paint a picture of their progress."
The team designed four distinct tile tops to address different stages of recovery. A large button targets gross motor movements like elbow and wrist motion. A pegboard develops fine motor skills. A keypad focuses on finger extension, and a joystick works on wrist rotation and grip strength. This adaptability means therapy can evolve as the patient recovers—a flexibility that sets TacTile apart from existing single-motion devices, which Mercado noted "can be expensive and limiting."
What truly distinguishes this system is the collaboration that shaped it. The team worked closely with rehabilitation specialists throughout development, from early concept through prototype testing. Wixom emphasized this partnership: "One of the biggest advantage of our system is its modularity. If a therapist identifies a movement we haven't covered, new tile tops can be developed to meet that need." That responsiveness reflects genuine clinical insight, not engineering assumptions.
The system also fills a critical gap in at-home care: feedback. In clinics, therapists guide patients and provide encouragement. At home, that feedback often vanishes. TacTile's interface displays real-time progress to patients and generates data for therapists to review remotely, maintaining that vital motivational connection. "We wanted to give patients a way to track their progress and stay motivated—whether that's seeing improvement over time or trying to beat their own score," Pillar said.
The recognition has been swift. TacTile won first place in the Willy Revolution Award for Outstanding Innovation at Rice's HUFF OEDK Engineering Design Showcase and claimed first place at the international IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Student Design Competition in Shanghai, where it was selected as the sole North American representative. Developed under the mentorship of Marcia O'Malley, chair of Rice's Department of Mechanical Engineering, the project demonstrates how engineering talent, clinical insight and genuine empathy can reimagine recovery—turning a patient's most isolating hours into moments of engagement and visible progress.