Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Jun 1, 2021
Date Accepted: Dec 7, 2021
Applications and User Perceptions of Smart Glasses in Emergency Medical Services
ABSTRACT
Background:
As a novel technology, smart glasses have been gaining momentum because of their advantages in enabling “hands-free” operation and “see-what-I-see” remote consultation. Researchers have primarily evaluated this technology in hospital settings; however, limited research has investigated its application in pre-hospital operation.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to understand the potential of smart glasses to support work practices of pre-hospital providers, such as emergency medical services (EMS) personnel.
Methods:
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 EMS providers recruited from four hospital-based EMS agencies in an urban area in the east coast region of the United States. The interview questions covered EMS workflow, challenges encountered, technology needs, and users’ perceptions of smart glasses in supporting daily EMS work. During the interviews, we demonstrated a system prototype to elicit more accurate and comprehensive insights regarding the smart glasses. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the open coding technique.
Results:
We identified four potential application areas for smart glasses in EMS: 1) enhancing teleconsultation between distributed pre-hospital and hospital providers, 2) semi-automating patient data collection and documentation in real-time, 3) supporting decision making and situation awareness, and 4) augmenting quality assurance and training. Compared to the built-in touchpad, voice commands and hand gestures were indicated as the most preferred and suitable interaction mechanisms. EMS providers expressed positive attitudes toward using smart glasses during pre-hospital encounters. However, several potential barriers and user concerns need to be considered and addressed before implementing and deploying smart glasses in EMS practice. They are related to hardware limitations, human factors, reliability, workflow, interoperability, and privacy.
Conclusions:
Smart glasses can be a suitable technological means in supporting EMS work. We conclude this paper by discussing several design considerations for realizing the full potential of this hands-free technology.
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Copyright
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