Collaborative co-design and evaluation of an immersive virtual reality application prototype for communication...

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality Applications

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) provides simulated environments for practicing communication skills.
• VR offers a safe, replicable, and authentic setting for rehabilitation.
• This study focuses on VR for communication rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To gather insights from health professionals and technology specialists on the design and usability of a prototype VR application for communication rehabilitation.
• To inform the development of effective VR tools for communication therapy.

Main Methods:

• An online focus group and individual interviews were conducted with nine health and technology professionals.
• A content thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data.

Main Results:

• Four key themes emerged: designing rehabilitation-focused virtual worlds, VR hardware usability, integrating VR into rehabilitation, and the non-replacement of health professionals by VR.
• Professionals highlighted the need for careful consideration of software features for usability, client safety, and successful outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Inclusive co-design involving health professionals, clients, and families is crucial for creating usable VR applications.
• VR application design must address clients' diverse needs (communication, physical, cognitive, sensory, psychosocial, emotional).
• Realism and authenticity in VR simulations are important for user immersion and enhanced rehabilitation.