VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY IN PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATION AND CLINICAL TRAINING

Abstract

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is revolutionising the world of physiotherapy education and training with immersive and simulation-based learning. VR and AR enable users to engage with interactive environments that enhance psychomotor skills, clinical reasoning, rehabilitation techniques, and patient engagement. With VR, you can create an entirely computer-generated virtual space and with AR, you place digital information over actual clinical environments. By using these technologies in their practice, both physiotherapy students and clinicians are afforded the opportunity to utilise rehabilitation techniques safely and over time with no risk to their patients. While high implementation costs and the absence of standardised protocols can be barriers to their implementation, VR and AR have been shown to provide a wide range of benefits from both an educational and clinical perspective. This chapter discusses the scope, applications, benefits, innovations, challenges, and future directions of VR and AR in physiotherapy education and clinical training.