Is VR the future of physical therapy? Researchers and physical therapists say it has promise – and challenges

If you’ve ever suffered an injury, then you know physical therapy is a vital part of the recovery process. You also know it can be repetitive and monotonous, but it doesn’t have to be.

Researchers from Northeastern University recently worked with physical therapists to see whether virtual reality fitness games, or exergames, are a viable alternative to traditional rehabilitation practices. In talking with practicing physical therapists, they found that VR exergames have the capacity to help with a patient’s physical and mental recovery –– but they also need some work.

The goal of their study, which stemmed from an ongoing collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital’s design lab, OASIS Lab, was to learn how VR can practically assist physical therapists in their work, not just offer a shiny new toy that has no clear use.

“We’re not just making things to make things. We really want to make a change,” says Casper Harteveld, a professor of game design at Northeastern. “This paper was the starting point to say if you want to create innovation –– actual innovation, not just invention –– then we need to think about what we can create within the space of physical therapy to make sure that that can actually be anchored and integrated into the actual practice.”

-------

Read the rest on Northeastern Global News.