JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Health-related virtual reality applications for patient treatment, rehabilitation, and medical professional training are on the side. However, there is little literature that provides an overview of how to select and perform usability evaluations for virtual reality health interventions compared to the supports that exist for other digital health technologies. The objective of this review is to present an introductory summary of various usability testing methods that can be used for virtual reality applications. Along with an overview of each method and important considerations for method selection and virtual reality development, a list of resources and seminal articles is provided for readers to obtain deeper insights and gain further familiarity with methods of interest. Articles describing usability testing methods applicable to health-related applications of virtual reality were identified in a search of relevant academic literature databases, grey literature, and through the reference lists of relevant articles. Six categories of virtual reality usability evaluations were identified and described using a previously developed classification taxonomy specific to virtual reality environments: cognitive/task walkthrough, graphical evaluation, post-hoc questionnaire or interview, physical performance evaluation, user interface evaluation, and heuristic evaluation. Given the growth of virtual reality in healthcare, rigorous evaluation and usability testing is crucial in the development and implementation of novel virtual reality interventions. The importance of interface usability and user engagement should continue to be emphasized as critical elements in ensuring advancements in virtual reality enhance patient care to their full potential.