Evidence before this study We searched PubMed and the Cochrane Database for relevant articles published from Jan 1, 1980, to Dec 18, 2015. We used the keywords “virtual reality” combined with “stroke” and “stroke rehabilitation”. We restricted the search to articles published in English. We identifi ed 12 small, single-centre studies (including our EVREST pilot study); when the results from these studies were combined in a meta-analysis published in a Cochrane review published in 2015, virtual reality-assisted rehabilitation appeared to confer modest improvement in motor function of the upper extremity after stroke. Considerable heterogeneity was observed, as each study included fi ve to 40 participants (less than 200 participants in total). Most of the studies compared non-immersive virtual reality added to conventional rehabilitation versus conventional rehabilitation alone, with no active control. Added value of this study To our knowledge, this multicentre study is the fi rst randomised trial to compare the eff ect of non-immersive