Simulation Trust Calibration using Virtual Humans

Simulation Trust Calibration using Virtual Humans
  • Project Title: Simulation Trust Calibration using Virtual Humans
  • VERG Researchers: Jacob Stuart, Ileri Akinnola
  • Description: This work focused on the development of a virtual reality (VR) experience to help nursing students improve their handoff communication skills using virtual humans. The goal was to provide a safe, realistic, and immersive environment in which students could practice and refine their communication techniques, ultimately enhancing patient safety and the quality of healthcare services. A follow-up to the initial project investigated the impact of virtual humans making verbal communication mistakes on learners’ perceptions of their credibility, reliability, and trustworthiness in a VR-based educational setting. The study aimed to understand the consequences of these communication errors and how they might influence learners’ experiences and overall learning outcomes. 
  • Problem:
    • There is a need for effective and immersive learning environments for nursing students to practice and improve their handoff communication skills, which are essential for patient safety and quality healthcare services.
    • It is unclear how virtual humans making verbal communication mistakes in the learning environments affects learners’ perceptions of a virtual nurse’s credibility, reliability, and trustworthiness.
    • Goals: The goal of this project is to explore how trust in simulations and virtual humans can differ within the same experience and how this can be calibrated to an appropriate level.
    • Technology: Unity, Qualtrics, 360 images, virtual humans
  • Links to videos: https://youtu.be/PyK0wYyjXvIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R6j4e9YCmI
  • Publications connected to the project:
    • Stuart, J., Aul, K., Bumbach, M. D., Stephen, A., & Lok, B. (2021). Building a handoff communication virtual experience for nursing students using virtual humans. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 39(12), 1017-1026.
    • Stuart, J., Aul, K., Bumbach, M. D., Stephen, A., de Siqueira, A. G., & Lok, B. (2022, March). The Effect of Virtual Humans Making Verbal Communication Mistakes on Learners’ Perspectives of their Credibility, Reliability, and Trustworthiness. In 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) (pp. 455-463). IEEE.