Title: Treating my real avatar in the wepital

Abstract

Background: An indirect outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic has been higher adoption and acceptance of telemedicine and virtual visits, but such visits are short-timed, lacking in data persistence and continuity in the care of patients. Our published work (Zahedi et al. 2022) proposed designing a medical system (called wepital with virtual avatars for patients and connecting them with real-time and continued medical care. Methods: Sixty patients with gastrointestinal problems participated in the experiment using the wepital prototype and wearable sensors. The patients interacted with GI specialists in a group setting, as uniquely enabled by wepital to maintain patient anonymity and privacy. Results: First, our work showed the proof-of-concept of the feasibility of our design. Second, the research experiment with real patients shows high patient satisfaction with physicians and our prototype design. Furthermore, patients generally had positive feelings and beliefs about their real avatars. Conclusion: Our work shows that real avatars have the potential to represent people in critical contexts, such as medical care. Our work also provides a theoretical-based framework for the assessment of patent-based technologies and technology-assisted delivery modes. Our work has practical and policy implications for persistent patient care at home, short-term rehab centers, and hospitals.