3.3.6. Technology Assessment

Technology assessment was investigated in two studies [54,59].

Denecke and May [59] discussed the use of conversational agents (CAs) in healthcare and the lack of a standard procedure to study their usability. The authors conducted a systematic literature review and found that a variety of tools and metrics were used to assess usability, but there was little consistency in the study designs. As a result, they found that it was difficult to compare usability among different CAs. The authors recommended the development of a standardized procedure for evaluating CA usability that can be applied consistently and can be tailored to specific features of individual CAs.

Chattopadhyay et al. [54] investigated the effectiveness of virtual humans (VH) in patient-facing systems. The study also identified two design categories—simple VH and VH augmented with health sensors and trackers. The intervention was mainly delivered using personal computers, and more focused analysis to identify what features of VH interventions contributed toward their effectiveness is needed in the future. Overall, the study offered evidence for the efficacy of VH in patient-facing systems, but further research is required to fully understand their potential benefits.
