Occupational Therapy XR

Project Overview:

The iTLAB and Professor Harrington developed the XR content for course alignment. Students were onboarded on the Meta Quest 3 XR headset.

Objectives:

• Enable OT students to test XR simulation potential for coordination, balance, and movement.

• Foster critical thinking on integrating immersive technologies into OT treatment.

• Contribute to university educational innovation by applying emerging technologies to health professions training.

A key goal was increasing student awareness of how XR tools support motor and cognitive recovery, allowing them to evaluate the clinical potential of immersive tools in a safe, exploratory setting.

Details of Implementation:

28 students, divided into two iTLAB sessions, received guided XR introductions and hands-on experience with applications focusing on motor function, coordination, and balance. Sessions included a standardized intro followed by immersive experiences using four therapeutically relevant XR applications: 

• Bait! - VR fishing for basic movement and immersion.

• Hello, Dot - mixed-reality pet for dexterity/nonverbal communication.

• Beat Saber - a rhythm game for bilateral coordination, balance, and reaction time. 

The iTLAB team collaborated with Professor Harrington to select apps and tailor the session design to OT learning outcomes. Additionally, students were provided with fictionalized clients for whom they needed to assess the therapeutic potential of the selected XR experiences.

Anticipated Challenges and Mitigation Strategies:

Technological Barriers: Most students lacked VR experience. To overcome this, the iTLAB provided structured onboarding and technical support during sessions.

Pedagogical Alignment: Ensuring that VR activities met course objectives required close collaboration with Professor Harrington. 

Resource Constraints: Limited VR equipment was managed through careful scheduling, maximizing access for all students.

Outcomes - Positive Feedback:

• “I was very impressed, and I loved the experience. I also like how precise it was, and it gave us the chance to move around. I think some of the games were also good for concentration, following directions, and reaction time” 

• “I learned about how to use the VR machine and the implications for patients for OT.”

• “It was valuable seeing how so many virtual reality tasks can be translated into therapeutic use.”

• “I got insight on how it (XR) can be applied to OT and overall individuals with disabilities. Also, breaking down each component was useful.”

• “I have a better understanding on how VR can be used therapeutically ” 

• “The session helped me to think about how XR could be used in practice.“

• “I learned about how to use VR and the implications for patients for OT.”

Outcomes - What could be improved?:

• “Maybe telling us about the experiences prior so we could look up how to do certain things in advance.” 

• “Continue to remind students about the effects of using the VR. I thought that it would effect me while using it, but I felt it more after taking it off.”

• “Smaller group sizes, bigger room, explanation/tutorial of games that don't have tutorials.”

• “More space in the room if possible.” 

• “More time and space!”

What We Learned:

This collaboration demonstrates that XR has genuine potential as a clinical education tool, not as a novelty, but as a meaningful way for OT students to evaluate XR applications for therapeutic potential.

Effective integration, this project showed, depends as much on pedagogical intentionality as on the technology itself. The iTLAB–faculty partnership model is what made that possible.

Student feedback points to a clear appetite for more. The next step is building on this foundation: refining logistics, expanding access, and embedding XR more fully into the OT curriculum as a sustained learning tool rather than a one-time experience.

Acknowledgments:

OT students brought something to these sessions that no design could manufacture: genuine clinical curiosity. Watching them test the therapeutic implications of the experiences, on the spot, in a headset, for the first time, was a reminder of why this work matters. Their questions shaped the sessions as much as any plan we made in advance.