Voice-Enabled Intelligent Virtual Agents for People With Amnesia: Systematic Review

Abstract

Background Older adults often have increasing memory problems (amnesia), and approximately 50 million people worldwide have dementia. This syndrome gradually affects a patient over a period of 10-20 years. Intelligent virtual agents may support people with amnesia. Objective This study aims to identify state-of-the-art experimental studies with virtual agents on a screen capable of verbal dialogues with a target group of older adults with amnesia. Methods We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, SCOPUS, Microsoft Academic, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and CrossRef on virtual agent and amnesia on papers that describe such experiments. Search criteria were ( Virtual Agent OR Virtual Assistant OR Virtual Human OR Conversational Agent OR Virtual Coach OR Chatbot ) AND ( Amnesia OR Dementia OR Alzheimer OR Mild Cognitive Impairment ). Risk of bias was evaluated using the QualSyst tool (University of Alberta), which scores 14 study quality items. Eligible studies are reported in a table including country, study design type, target sample size, controls, study aims, experiment population, intervention details, results, and an image of the agent. Results A total of 8 studies was included in this meta-analysis. The average number of participants in the studies was 20 (SD 12). The verbal interactions were generally short. The usability was generally reported to be positive. The human utterance was seen in 7 (88%) out of 8 studies based on short words or phrases that were predefined in the agent’s speech recognition algorithm. The average study quality score was 0.69 (SD 0.08) on a scale of 0 to 1. Conclusions The number of experimental studies on talking about virtual agents that support people with memory problems is still small. The details on the verbal interaction are limited, which makes it difficult to assess the quality of the interaction and the possible effects of confounding parameters. In addition, the derivation of the aggregated data was difficult. Further research with extended and prolonged dialogues is required.

The Chatbots Are Invading Us: A Map Point on the Evolution, Applications, Opportunities, and Emerging Problems in the Health Domain

“…The chatbots are increasingly showing several applications in the health domain . Diverse keywords [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ] are associated with the concept of the chatbot in healthcare; among the most frequent we find: patient engagement, clinical support, mental health, health monitoring, patient education, appointment scheduling, symptom checking, chronic disease management, triage, remote monitoring, telemedicine, health coaching and emergency response.…”

“…Chatbots can be used in several fields in the health domain [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]: (a) As a tool for answering frequently asked questions [ 39 ]; (b) For the collection of data and patient details [ 39 , 42 , 43 ]; (c) To support patients finding a doctor or a specific service, on managing appointments, and on the medication dispensing procedure [ 42 ]; (d) As an interactive guide to the management of self-assessment and symptom control [ 39 , 42 ]; (e) As a tool to guide an interactive triage, applicable in the case of an emergency as well [ 36 ]; (f) In telehealth, digital health applications, and remote monitoring [ 37 , 39 , 40 , 42 , 43 ]. (g) In the learning process, in the construction of scientific knowledge and in supporting scientific dissemination [ 35 , 38 ]; (h) In mental health applications [ 37 , 38 ]; (i) For physical wellness and health coaching [ 40 ].…”