A Use Case of the Application of Advanced Gaming and Immersion Technologies for Professional Training: The GAMEPHARM Training Environment for Physiotherapists

Immersive technologies are gaining momentum in professionaltraining. Advanced AR/VR and gaming technologies allow for authenticlearning experiences that are close to real‑life conditions,problems, and applications, something that can revolutionise fieldslike medical training, which traditionally relied on textbook‑basedtheoretical education and clinical placements. The present paperdiscusses the application of advanced gaming and immersiontechnologies for the continuous training of physiotherapists.Presently, this professional group remains largely underserved byonline training services. The paper argues that the inherentcomplexity of physical therapy training could be served effectivelyby immersive learning innovations and professionals could benefitgreatly. The paper applies the Design Science Research Methodology(DSRM) to design a suitable training solution for the promotion ofauthentic, comprehensive learning. Our analysis targets andconsolidates the findings from three distinct pillars: (a) therequirements of the application area in question; (b) the currentstate‑of‑the‑art and emerging directions in game‑based professionaleducation and training; and (c) existing applications of game‑basedlearning in the field of healthcare. Subsequently, the paperconsolidates the findings to produce the system requirements andpresents the design of a prototype training environment forphysiotherapists that builds on advanced gaming technologies. Withinthe proposed system design, augmented reality modules are embeddedalongside the game simulation and virtual world environment toprovide participants with an authentic simulated game scenario inwhich to immerse themselves.