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Choi DS, Park J, Loeser M, Seo K. Improving counseling effectiveness with virtual counselors through nonverbal compassion involving eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding. Sci Rep 2024; 14:506. [PMID: 38177239 PMCID: PMC10766597 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-51115-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
An effective way to reduce emotional distress is by sharing negative emotions with others. This is why counseling with a virtual counselor is an emerging methodology, where the sharer can consult freely anytime and anywhere without having to fear being judged. To improve counseling effectiveness, most studies so far have focused on designing verbal compassion for virtual counselors. However, recent studies showed that virtual counselors' nonverbal compassion through eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding also have significant impact on the overall counseling experience. To verify this, we designed the virtual counselor's nonverbal compassion and examined its effects on counseling effectiveness (i.e., reduce the intensity of anger and improve general affect). A total of 40 participants were recruited from the university community. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of two virtual counselor conditions: a neutral virtual counselor condition without nonverbal compassion and a compassionate virtual counselor condition with nonverbal compassion (i.e., eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding). Participants shared their anger-inducing episodes with the virtual counselor for an average of 16.30 min. Note that the virtual counselor was operated by the Wizard-of-Oz method without actually being technically implemented. Results showed that counseling with a compassionate virtual counselor reduced the intensity of anger significantly more than counseling with a neutral virtual counselor (F(1, 37) = 30.822, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.454). In addition, participants who counseled with a compassionate virtual counselor responded that they experienced higher empathy than those who counseled with a neutral virtual counselor (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that nonverbal compassion through eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding of the virtual counselor makes the participants feel more empathy, which contributes to improving the counseling effectiveness by reducing the intensity of anger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doo Sung Choi
- Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 01811, Korea
| | - Jongyoul Park
- Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 01811, Korea
| | - Martin Loeser
- Department of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mechatronics, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland
| | - Kyoungwon Seo
- Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 01811, Korea.
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Worlikar H, Coleman S, Kelly J, O'Connor S, Murray A, McVeigh T, Doran J, McCabe I, O'Keeffe D. Mixed Reality Platforms in Telehealth Delivery: Scoping Review. JMIR BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 2023; 8:e42709. [PMID: 38875694 PMCID: PMC11041465 DOI: 10.2196/42709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The distinctive features of the digital reality platforms, namely augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) have extended to medical education, training, simulation, and patient care. Furthermore, this digital reality technology seamlessly merges with information and communication technology creating an enriched telehealth ecosystem. This review provides a composite overview of the prospects of telehealth delivered using the MR platform in clinical settings. OBJECTIVE This review identifies various clinical applications of high-fidelity digital display technology, namely AR, VR, and MR, delivered using telehealth capabilities. Next, the review focuses on the technical characteristics, hardware, and software technologies used in the composition of AR, VR, and MR in telehealth. METHODS We conducted a scoping review using the methodological framework and reporting design using the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Full-length articles in English were obtained from the Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. The search protocol was based on the following keywords and Medical Subject Headings to obtain relevant results: "augmented reality," "virtual reality," "mixed-reality," "telemedicine," "telehealth," and "digital health." A predefined inclusion-exclusion criterion was developed in filtering the obtained results and the final selection of the articles, followed by data extraction and construction of the review. RESULTS We identified 4407 articles, of which 320 were eligible for full-text screening. A total of 134 full-text articles were included in the review. Telerehabilitation, telementoring, teleconsultation, telemonitoring, telepsychiatry, telesurgery, and telediagnosis were the segments of the telehealth division that explored the use of AR, VR, and MR platforms. Telerehabilitation using VR was the most commonly recurring segment in the included studies. AR and MR has been mainly used for telementoring and teleconsultation. The most important technical features of digital reality technology to emerge with telehealth were virtual environment, exergaming, 3D avatars, telepresence, anchoring annotations, and first-person viewpoint. Different arrangements of technology-3D modeling and viewing tools, communication and streaming platforms, file transfer and sharing platforms, sensors, high-fidelity displays, and controllers-formed the basis of most systems. CONCLUSIONS This review constitutes a recent overview of the evolving digital AR and VR in various clinical applications using the telehealth setup. This combination of telehealth with AR, VR, and MR allows for remote facilitation of clinical expertise and further development of home-based treatment. This review explores the rapidly growing suite of technologies available to users within the digital health sector and examines the opportunities and challenges they present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemendra Worlikar
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Sean Coleman
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Department of Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Jack Kelly
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Department of Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Sadhbh O'Connor
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Department of Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Aoife Murray
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Terri McVeigh
- Cancer Genetics Unit, The Royal Marsden National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jennifer Doran
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Ian McCabe
- Health Innovation Via Engineering Laboratory, Cúram Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Derek O'Keeffe
- Department of Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Lero, Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Software Research, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
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van Brakel V, Barreda-Ángeles M, Hartmann T. Feelings of presence and perceived social support in social virtual reality platforms. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2022.107523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Interviewing in virtual environments: Towards understanding the impact of rapport-building behaviours and retrieval context on eyewitness memory. Mem Cognit 2023; 51:404-421. [PMID: 36251160 PMCID: PMC9575624 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-022-01362-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Given the complexities of episodic memory and necessarily social nature of in-person face-to-face interviews, theoretical and evidence-based techniques for collecting episodic information from witnesses, victims, and survivors champion rapport-building. Rapport is believed to reduce some of the social demands of recalling an experienced event in an interview context, potentially increasing cognitive capacity for remembering. Cognitive and social benefits have also emerged in remote interview contexts with reduced anxiety and social pressure contributing to improved performance. Here, we investigated episodic memory in mock-eyewitness interviews conducted in virtual environments (VE) and in-person face-to-face (FtF), where rapport-building behaviours were either present or absent. Main effects revealed when rapport was present and where interviews were conducted in a VE participants recalled more correct event information, made fewer errors and were more accurate. Moreover, participants in the VE plus rapport-building present condition outperformed participants in all other conditions. Feedback indicated both rapport and environment were important for reducing the social demands of a recall interview, towards supporting effortful remembering. Our results add to the emerging literature on the utility of virtual environments as interview spaces and lend further support to the importance of prosocial behaviours in applied contexts.
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Takano M, Taka F. Fancy avatar identification and behaviors in the virtual world: Preceding avatar customization and succeeding communication. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
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Wang P, Liu H, Wang X, Yuan X, Sun Y, Xiao L, Li W, Ma C. A Preliminary Validation of the Chinese Version of the Information Technology Identity Scale. Psychol Res Behav Manag 2022; 15:751-762. [PMID: 35368422 PMCID: PMC8965015 DOI: 10.2147/prbm.s352365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Information technology has become an irreplaceable part of people’s lives, and the interaction between information technology and self-identity has produced a new type of information technology (IT) identity. However, there is no measurement tool for this concept in China. The main aim of the study was to revise Carter’s IT Identity Scale in the context of Chinese cultural background and to determine whether the Chinese version is congruent with the English version. Methods In this study, we revised the scale on the basis of the information technology identity scale developed by Carter, translated the scale according to the Chinese cultural environment. Our sample size was 408, and all of them were junior middle school students. After testing this sample, we carried out item analysis, validity analysis, and reliability analysis. Results (1) The correlation coefficients between each item and the total score were significant (0.775–0.885). (2) The three-factor structure (relatedness, dependence, emotional energy) of the Chinese version of the IT identity scale was consistent with the original scale. The values of the factor loadings of each item in the three factors of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were all greater than 0.700, and the model fit indexes (CFI, NFI, NNFI, TLI and IFI) were all greater than 0.900, indicating a good model fit. (3) Average variance extraction (AVE), composite reliability (CR), Pearson correlation, and the square root of AVE indicated good convergence and discriminant validity. (4) The ɑ coefficients and CR of the three dimensions (ie, relatedness, dependence, emotional energy) were all greater than 0.800, and the split coefficients were all greater than 0.800, indicating high reliability. Conclusion The Chinese version of the information technology identity scale presented satisfactory psychometric properties and shared many similarities with the original version. Ultimately, we revised an information technology identity scale suitable for Chinese culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Wang
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Haotian Liu
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiao Wang
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiqing Yuan
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yu Sun
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Li Xiao
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
- Correspondence: Li Xiao, Faculty of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-17806815755, Email
| | - Wenxuan Li
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Chong Ma
- Faculty of Education, Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
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Barreda-Ángeles M, Hartmann T. Psychological benefits of using social virtual reality platforms during the covid-19 pandemic: The role of social and spatial presence. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 2021; 127:107047. [PMID: 34629723 PMCID: PMC8489850 DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2021.107047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Social virtual reality (VR) platforms are an emergent phenomenon, with growing numbers of users utilizing them to connect with others while experiencing feelings of presence (“being there”). This article examines the associations between feelings of presence and the activities performed by users, and the psychological benefits obtained in terms of relatedness, self-expansion, and enjoyment, in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. The results of a survey conducted among users (N = 220) indicate that feelings of spatial presence predict these three outcomes, while social presence predicts relatedness and enjoyment, but not self-expansion. Socialization activities like meeting friends in VR are associated with relatedness and enjoyment, while playful and creative activities allow for self-expansion. Moreover, the perceived impact of social distancing measures was associated with an increase in use, suggesting the utility of these platforms to help users meeting particularly frustrated psychological needs. These results provide a first quantitative account of the potential positive effects of social VR platforms on users’ wellbeing and encourage further research on the topic.
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Khan S, Shapka JD, Domene JF. Counsellors’ experiences of online therapy. BRITISH JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE & COUNSELLING 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2021.1885009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shereen Khan
- Health and Counselling Services, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Jennifer D. Shapka
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Jose F. Domene
- Werlund School of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
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Abstract
Technology is giving rise to artificial erotic agents, which we call erobots (erôs + bot). Erobots, such as virtual or augmented partners, erotic chatbots, and sex robots, increasingly expose humans to the possibility of intimacy and sexuality with artificial agents. Their advent has sparked academic and public debates: some denounce their risks (e.g., promotion of harmful sociosexual norms), while others defend their potential benefits (e.g., health, education, and research applications). Yet, the scientific study of human-machine erotic interaction is limited; no comprehensive theoretical models have been proposed and the empirical literature remains scarce. The current research programs investigating erotic technologies tend to focus on the risks and benefits of erobots, rather than providing solutions to resolve the former and enhance the latter. Moreover, we feel that these programs underestimate how humans and machines unpredictably interact and co-evolve, as well as the influence of sociocultural processes on technological development and meaning attribution. To comprehensively explore human-machine erotic interaction and co-evolution, we argue that we need a new unified transdisciplinary field of research-grounded in sexuality and technology positive frameworks-focusing on human-erobot interaction and co-evolution as well as guiding the development of beneficial erotic machines. We call this field Erobotics. As a first contribution to this new discipline, this article defines Erobotics and its related concepts; proposes a model of human-erobot interaction and co-evolution; and suggests a path to design beneficial erotic machines that could mitigate risks and enhance human well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Dubé
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC Canada
| | - Dave Anctil
- Department of Philosophy, Jean-de-Brebeuf College, Montreal, QC Canada
- Observatoire sur les Impacts Sociétaux de l’Intelligence Artificielle et du Numérique, Laval University, Québec, QC Canada
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