Extending Patient Education with CLAIRE: An Interactive Virtual Reality and Voice User Interface Application

摘要

Patient education aims at strengthening the competence and self-care capabilities of a patient. Through information brochures, movies, and websites or by asking questions, patients learn about diseases and treatment as a basis for their decision-making. However, their motivation to learn is often limited due to the complexity of content or significant barriers for asking specific questions. To address this issue, we developed an interactive smartphone application named CLAIRE. It combines virtual reality (VR), a chatbot and a voice user interface (VUI). In the virtual environment, the user can move freely, interact with objects and talk to the character Claire. She provides information on the respective learning topic, which is in its current implementation information on the donation of personal health data. In a task-oriented user test, 45 participants confirmed that CLAIRE is easy to use and intuitive. Claire's responses were perceived as understandable, linguistically correct and friendly. Participants stated that CLAIRE motivated them to learn about the topic. We conclude that VR with integrated VUI can extend the existing information channels for patient education.