JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Impaired cognitive function is observed in many pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. At present, the pharmaceutical treatments available to counter cognitive decline have only modest effects, with significant side effects. One non-pharmacological treatment that has received considerable attention is computerized cognitive training (CCT), which aims to maintain or improve cognitive functioning through repeated practice on standardized exercises. CCT allows for more regular and thorough training of cognitive functions directly at home, which represents a significant opportunity to fight cognitive decline. However, the presence of assistance during training seems to be an important parameter to improve patients' motivation and adherence to treatment. To compensate for the absence of a therapist during at-home CCT, a relevant option could be to include a virtual assistant to accompany patients throughout their training.

Objective:

The objective of this exploratory study was thus to evaluate the interest of including a virtual assistant to accompany patients during CCT. We investigated the relationship between various individual factors (e.g., age, psycho-affective functioning, personality, personal motivations, cognitive skills) and the appreciation and usefulness of a virtual assistant during CCT. This study is part of the THERADIA project, which aims to develop an empathetic virtual assistant.

Methods:

A total of 104 participants were recruited, including 52 younger adults (18-27 years old, mean age ± SD = 21.2 ± 2.9) and 52 older adults (60-79 years old, mean age ± SD = 67.9 ± 5.1). All participants were invited to the laboratory to answer several questionnaires and perform one CCT session, which consisted of four cognitive exercises supervised by a virtual assistant animated by a human pilot via the Wizard of Oz method. The participants evaluated the virtual assistant and CCT at the end of the session.

Results:

Analyses were performed using the Bayesian framework. The results suggested that the virtual assistant was appreciated and perceived as useful during CCT in both age groups. However, older adults rated the assistant and CCT more positively overall than younger adults. Certain user characteristics, especially their current affective state (i.e., arousal, intrinsic relevance, goal-conduciveness, anxiety-state) appeared to be related to their evaluation of the session.

Conclusions:

This study provides for the first time insight into how young and older adults perceive a virtual assistant during CCT. The results suggested that such an assistant could have a beneficial influence on users' motivation, provided that it can handle different situations, particularly their emotional state. The next step of our project will be to evaluate our device with patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment and to test its effectiveness in long-term cognitive training.