Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study
BackgroundIndividuals who have acquired communication disorders often struggle to transfer the skills they learn during therapy sessions to real-life situations. Immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has the potential to create realistic communication environments that ca...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2023-10-01
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| Series: | JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies |
| Online Access: | https://rehab.jmir.org/2023/1/e46959 |
| _version_ | 1797644224263356416 |
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| author | Atiyeh Vaezipour Danielle Aldridge Sebastian Koenig Clare Burns Nilufar Baghaei Deborah Theodoros Trevor Russell |
| author_facet | Atiyeh Vaezipour Danielle Aldridge Sebastian Koenig Clare Burns Nilufar Baghaei Deborah Theodoros Trevor Russell |
| author_sort | Atiyeh Vaezipour |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundIndividuals who have acquired communication disorders often struggle to transfer the skills they learn during therapy sessions to real-life situations. Immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has the potential to create realistic communication environments that can be used both in clinical settings and for practice at home by individuals with communication disorders.
ObjectiveThis research aims to enhance our understanding of the acceptance, usefulness, and usability of a VR application (SIM:Kitchen), designed for communication rehabilitation. Additionally, this research aims to identify the perceived barriers and benefits of using VR technology from the perspective of individuals with acquired communication disorders.
MethodsSemistructured interviews and usability surveys were conducted with 10 individuals with acquired neurogenic communication disorders aged 46-81 (mean 58, SD 9.57) years after trialing an immersive VR application. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify themes.
ResultsThe quantitative data regarding the usability of the system associated with participants’ immersion experience in the VR application were promising. Findings from semistructured interviews are discussed across five key thematic areas including (1) participant’s attitude toward VR, (2) perceived usefulness of the VR system, (3) perceived ease of use of the VR system, (4) their willingness to continue using VR, and (5) the factors they perceived as challenges or facilitators to adopting this VR technology.
ConclusionsOverall, participants in this study found the VR experience to be enjoyable and were impressed by the realism of the VR application designed for communication rehabilitation. This study highlighted personally relevant, immersive VR interventions with different levels of task difficulty that could enhance technology uptake in the context of communication rehabilitation. However, it is essential that VR hand controller technology is refined to be more naturalistic in movement and able to accommodate user capabilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:28:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f9f3a1a97f64666860a5e1cafd55a85 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2369-2529 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:28:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f9f3a1a97f64666860a5e1cafd55a852023-10-31T13:30:37ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies2369-25292023-10-0110e4695910.2196/46959Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey StudyAtiyeh Vaezipourhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8110-1652Danielle Aldridgehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5057-194XSebastian Koenighttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2040-5438Clare Burnshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9752-1739Nilufar Baghaeihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1776-7075Deborah Theodoroshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-1926Trevor Russellhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9732-6167 BackgroundIndividuals who have acquired communication disorders often struggle to transfer the skills they learn during therapy sessions to real-life situations. Immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has the potential to create realistic communication environments that can be used both in clinical settings and for practice at home by individuals with communication disorders. ObjectiveThis research aims to enhance our understanding of the acceptance, usefulness, and usability of a VR application (SIM:Kitchen), designed for communication rehabilitation. Additionally, this research aims to identify the perceived barriers and benefits of using VR technology from the perspective of individuals with acquired communication disorders. MethodsSemistructured interviews and usability surveys were conducted with 10 individuals with acquired neurogenic communication disorders aged 46-81 (mean 58, SD 9.57) years after trialing an immersive VR application. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify themes. ResultsThe quantitative data regarding the usability of the system associated with participants’ immersion experience in the VR application were promising. Findings from semistructured interviews are discussed across five key thematic areas including (1) participant’s attitude toward VR, (2) perceived usefulness of the VR system, (3) perceived ease of use of the VR system, (4) their willingness to continue using VR, and (5) the factors they perceived as challenges or facilitators to adopting this VR technology. ConclusionsOverall, participants in this study found the VR experience to be enjoyable and were impressed by the realism of the VR application designed for communication rehabilitation. This study highlighted personally relevant, immersive VR interventions with different levels of task difficulty that could enhance technology uptake in the context of communication rehabilitation. However, it is essential that VR hand controller technology is refined to be more naturalistic in movement and able to accommodate user capabilities.https://rehab.jmir.org/2023/1/e46959 |
| spellingShingle | Atiyeh Vaezipour Danielle Aldridge Sebastian Koenig Clare Burns Nilufar Baghaei Deborah Theodoros Trevor Russell Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies |
| title | Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study |
| title_full | Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study |
| title_fullStr | Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study |
| title_short | Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study |
| title_sort | rehabilitation supported by immersive virtual reality for adults with communication disorders semistructured interviews and usability survey study |
| url | https://rehab.jmir.org/2023/1/e46959 |
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