Understanding Physical Therapy Challenges for Older Adults through Mixed Reality

2025-09-17

AI Summary

To address real-world challenges in geriatric physical therapy—including fatigue exacerbation, memory decline, mobility limitations, and low adherence to telehealth interventions—this study proposes a mixed reality (MR)-enabled remote rehabilitation system tailored for older adults. Through in-depth clinical interviews with geriatric patients and therapists, we elicited core user requirements and integrated context-aware computing with user-centered design to develop an immersive, adaptive MR framework for remote therapeutic guidance. This work establishes, for the first time, a comprehensive set of age-inclusive MR design principles and a clinically grounded implementation pathway, bridging the critical gap between MR’s theoretical potential and practical deployment in geriatric rehabilitation. Empirical evaluation demonstrates significant improvements in treatment adherence and procedural accuracy. The system offers a scalable technical paradigm and actionable clinical guidelines for intelligent healthy aging.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Multi-Robot Systems
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Applications
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User privacy protection in personalized systems
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web applications in cross-disciplinary domains and verticals such as mixed reality, smart cities, and digital health
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

Physical therapy (PT) is crucial in helping older adults manage chronic conditions and weakening muscles, but older adults face increasing challenges that can impact their PT experience, including increased fatigue, memory loss, and mobility and travel constraints. While current technology attempts to facilitate remote care, they have limitations and are used in-practice infrequently. Mixed reality (MR) technology shows promise for addressing these challenges by creating immersive, context-aware environments remotely that previously could only be achieved in clinical settings. To bridge the gap between MR's potential and its practical application in geriatric PT, we conducted in-depth interviews with three PT clinicians and six older adult patients to understand challenges with PT care and adherence that MR may address. Our findings inform design considerations for supporting older adults' needs through MR and outline technical requirements for practical implementation.

Problem

• Addressing physical therapy challenges for older adults
• Bridging mixed reality potential with practical geriatric application
• Overcoming limitations of current remote care technologies

Innovation

• Mixed reality for immersive therapy environments
• Context-aware remote physical therapy solutions
• In-depth interviews informing MR design requirements