Spatial Visualisations for Physiotherapy Training Using Volumetric Capture and Virtual Reality

ABSTRACT Background Physiotherapy education traditionally relies on face‐to‐face instruction for teaching complex manual therapy techniques. Current remote teaching methods struggle to convey spatial aspects of physical techniques, limiting their effectiveness for practical skills training. Few examples were found of immersive training systems for physiotherapy. Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of spatial visualisations using volumetric video capture and VR compared to traditional video methods for physiotherapy physical skills training. Methods Twenty‐two first‐year physiotherapy students participated in a comparative study between traditional video and volumetric VR training methods. 3D content was created using an in‐house volumetric capture studio and imported into a virtual environment. After training, participants were assessed on technique performance, system usability, cognitive load and user experience. Results and Conclusions Both training approaches resulted in equivalent performance scores and high usability ratings. While overall cognitive load showed no significant differences between conditions, exploratory analysis of individual questions suggests potential advantages in cognitive load consistency between training and evaluation phases for volumetric training. Participants valued the spatial visualisation capabilities, though current technical limitations in volumetric capture quality were noted. These findings highlight the potential of volumetric capture for physiotherapy training, particularly when requiring spatial understanding, though improvements in capture technology are needed for widespread adoption.