Multimodal Cueing

Multimodal cueing is the simultaneous or selectable use of two or more sensory channels - typically visual, auditory, and somatosensory (vibrotactile) - to guide motor behaviour during rehabilitation or assistive interaction. The rationale is that different modalities engage different neural pathways and suit different contexts: auditory cues are strong for rhythm and entrainment, visual cues provide spatial grounding and lower cognitive load, and somatosensory cues are hands-free and discreet. Research on multimodal cueing for Parkinson's disease has shown that the most effective modality for gait improvement is not always the one patients prefer, making selectable multi-modality an accessibility design principle in its own right.