Project
Design for the future of
Physical Therapy
To design a solution that enhances the quality of a patient’s physiotherapy journey and improves outcomes.
Info
ID Studio 4072
Exploring patient AR interactions
Designer
Jyotsna Bhageria
Timeline
January - May 2025
Tools
Vred, axure, figma, 3d printing
Project goals
Enhance patient consistency and motivation by helping them understand long term goals better and track their physical therapy progress.
Understanding the problem
Imagine you get injured. You see a therapist and get a plan. What's next?
70% of knee replacement patients don't complete their PT (CDC). The physiotherapy industry is worth $46.4B — yet patients drop off due to limited insurance visits, unclear plans, and lack of follow-through at home.
Research
11 interviews, 2 clinic visits, 1 solution
I visited PT Solutions and Georgia Tech Athletics as part of my research.
Some of the key themes worth pointing out are that patients have a deep sense of fear of reinjury without supervision, no way to see progress, struggle with cost and transportation barriers, and often face low motivation.
01
02
03
04
05
06
"I don't think I'm making steady progress. Some days I do well. Others I feel like I'm back to square one."
"I feel like I am good at completing my training when I'm in the pt office but struggle to keep up when I'm home alone."
"I'm not sure if my form is correct when I'm doing the exercises on my own. I'm so scared of reinjury so don't know how much I can push myself"
Insights
After lots of testing, I was able to condense user pain points to 3 insights
User Needs
Medical Awareness
Patients need to understand what they're treating and what that plan looks like
Intentional Movement
Proper form guidance without a therapist present
Accountability & Tracking
Progress needs to be tracked. It's easy to lose motivation otherwise
Ideation
We designed a hanging contraption to aerially suspend Canopy
We began this process by hanging our cardboard pieces with a belt. Then we realized that we needed something to maintain the tension of the strap so that the pieces wouldn't slouch and come to the center. With that in mind, our group attempted to use an L-beam to create tension as pictured in the third figure. This was a definitely a step towards our final design but we were still unsatisfied with the design of the structure. So we welded a steel beam to create an offset of 6 inches that would allow us to properly turn our cardboard pieces. Once that was settled, my group and I created a suspension mechanism that would allow us to make finer tuned adjustments.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
User Testing
Users got to try out AR technology live!
01
Felt like they completely immersed
02
Needed movement feedback to be more integrated
03
Loved the motion sensor
Solution
Theracare is a loan-based mixed reality kit: AR glasses, body monitor, camera, and companion app
1. Pair — Sync devices via Bluetooth
2. Set up camera — Place for full body view
3. Wear glasses — AR overlay guides form in real time
4. Measure — Track progress in the app
01
02
03
04
Reflection
AR turned out to be the key move — it lets patients literally see their progress in space
he biggest challenge was making a multi-device system feel approachable for someone in pain. AR turned out to be the key move — it lets patients literally see their progress in space, which tackled the core research finding: people quit because recovery feels invisible. Theracare makes it visible.
That's a wrap!
Thank you for going through my work:)
