FEATURED PROJECT
AUGMENTED REALITY FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY STUDENTS
PROBLEM
Golgi tendon organs (GTO) are proprioceptive organs that regulate muscle strain and overuse. They work in tandem with muscle spindles, which prevent muscles from overstretching. An average physical therapy practice sees up to 200 patients a week, making it essential for physical therapists to understand neurophysiology of muscle spindles and GTO and leverage how they work together to impact patients' muscle tone, flexibility, and strength production. Students who do not fully comprehend the topic are unprepared entering their career, leading to decreased patient care and poor health outcome.
The difficulty in teaching and understanding this topic arises from its correlation of microscopic structures to their large-scale musculoskeletal effect. Currently, teaching this topic at Augusta University involves a PowerPoint lecture and some required textbook readings. To date, no animations or interactive exercises for this topic are available, and the few available visuals do not induce productive learning of how muscle spindle and GTO activity impact observed muscular outcome. This project aims to use augmented reality (AR) combined with problem-based learning and other educational principles to create an immersive learning experience based on clinical scenarios. The use of interactivity and 3D motions is shown to increase retention. Upon interaction, students will be able to see and hear how muscle and microscopic structure work in conjunction to accomplish large-scale effect. The Adobe Aero app is free, accessible from anywhere, and easy to use. For those without tablets or smartphones, interactions on the app can be easily recorded and posted as a supplemental video, and the module can be utilized as a lecture aid.
Sample story boards from the planning phase of the project showing how the models will appear in space and the user's experience as they work through the module.
PROJECT PURPOSE
The purpose of this project is to provide physical therapy students with an improved, accessible opportunity to fully comprehend the neurophysiology of muscle using augmented reality. The short-term outcome will result in more efficient learning and understanding of the topic. Long-term outcomes include an increase in quality of care and an introduction to using AR in high-level medical education.
The solution will improve educational quality and comprehension outcome through Adobe Aero AR. These visual, auditory, and interactive components will be featured in the AR space: A main 3D model designed in Cinema 4D with a button prompting users to touch and begin the experience; Pop-up 3D models animated to teach users about each main topic; Static model of either GTO or Muscle Spindle with labeled anatomy; follow up questions to answer after users complete the experience; Narration throughout the experience. All components in the AR space will appear as though they are set in the user’s environment, and the users are able to move around the models to get different views. Students can go at their own pace, and can record their experience through the app.
The solution provides maximum accessibility as the Adobe aero app is free, accessible from anywhere, and can record the student’s session in the app. For those who do not have compatible hardware (tablet, smartphone) the professor can record the experience and post the video as a supplement online or include stills in their lecture. AR has not yet been used for this level of learning and is growing in popularity, making it attractive and engaging to the age groups in the physical therapy program. The project gives the target audiences a very interactive experience which implements problem-based learning and visual learning tactics primarily with additional auditory and animation tactics, ensuring that the information will resonate with the students and be recalled and applied in the future.
PROCESS
Adobe Aero is currently in its Beta version and has not yet been used for this level of education. Along with providing an educational tool to physical therapy students, this project served as an exploratory research project to determine how far Aero could be pushed toward a high-level learning experience and what kinds of assets would be compatable within Aero. After research and several tests, I developed a method to create models and animation that works with what Aero supports while still providing the needed realism. 3D assets were designed and animated in C4D with materials designed in Adobe Substance Painter, while 2D assets were designed using Procreate, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Elevenlabs was utilized for the narration. All assets were imported and positioned in the Aero workspace and scaled appropriately. Making sure that the models were scaled to be easily viewed on a small phone screen as well as a larger tablet screen was important to ensure that the user can comfortably see all assets at once, preventing confusion. Using the behavior function within Adobe Aero, triggers and resulting actions were established to add interactivity and make the assets work together. Narration was programmed to play alongside certain actions within the scene.
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