The Use of 360° Immersive Technology For Conducting Remote Home Assessments: A Preliminary Feasibility Study

Research Objectives To test the feasibility of using 360° immersive technology for conducting remote home assessments. Design A preliminary feasibility study. Setting Gator Tech Smart House, an experimental environment for validating technology designed by the University of Florida. Participants Three Veterans Health Administration (VHA) occupational therapists who have experience in home assessments. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Modified System Usability Scale (SUS) and semi-structured individual interview. Results The results demonstrate that the 360° immersive technology is acceptable for assessing the home environment (SUS score of 72.5±9). All participants reported that the technology was intuitive and easy to use. Preliminary results show that this technology provides occupational therapists with information regarding physical features (e.g., height of bathtub and door width) and different perspectives (e.g., floor plan and zoom-in imaging) of the home environment. All participants stated that this technology's detailed visual information about the environment could be an enhancement over current video technology use in VHA to conduct remote home assessments, and therefore, would be willing to use this technology in their clinical practice. Conclusions Based on preliminary findings from occupational therapists, the use of 360° immersive technology for conducting remote home assessments is feasible and can enhance current VA-approved telehealth technology. This preliminary feasibility study shows the potential of state-of-the-art technology to improve access and quality of remote home assessment services. Author(s) Disclosures This research was supported in part by grant# K12 HD055929 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Veterans Rural Health Resource Center (PROJFY-008301). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH and Veterans Rural Health Resource Center. To test the feasibility of using 360° immersive technology for conducting remote home assessments. A preliminary feasibility study. Gator Tech Smart House, an experimental environment for validating technology designed by the University of Florida. Three Veterans Health Administration (VHA) occupational therapists who have experience in home assessments. Not applicable. Modified System Usability Scale (SUS) and semi-structured individual interview. The results demonstrate that the 360° immersive technology is acceptable for assessing the home environment (SUS score of 72.5±9). All participants reported that the technology was intuitive and easy to use. Preliminary results show that this technology provides occupational therapists with information regarding physical features (e.g., height of bathtub and door width) and different perspectives (e.g., floor plan and zoom-in imaging) of the home environment. All participants stated that this technology's detailed visual information about the environment could be an enhancement over current video technology use in VHA to conduct remote home assessments, and therefore, would be willing to use this technology in their clinical practice. Based on preliminary findings from occupational therapists, the use of 360° immersive technology for conducting remote home assessments is feasible and can enhance current VA-approved telehealth technology. This preliminary feasibility study shows the potential of state-of-the-art technology to improve access and quality of remote home assessment services.