Simulations of a Computational Model for a Virtual Medical Assistant

We propose a virtual medical assistant to guide both novice and expert caregivers through a procedure without the direct help of medical professionals. Our medical assistant uses situational leadership to handle all interaction with a caregiver, which works by identifying the readiness level of the caregiver in order to match them with an appropriate style of communication. The agent system (1) obtains caregiver behavior during the procedure, (2) calculates a readiness level of the caregiver using that behavior, and (3) generates appropriate agent behavior to progress the procedure and maintain a positive interaction with the caregiver.