Augmented reality for remote care: a co-creation approach to supporting older adults and healthcare professionals

Augmented Reality (AR) can enhance remote audio/video communication by enabling healthcare professionals to provide clear, intuitive instructions for older adults. AR solutions have proven effective in sectors like surgery and technical maintenance. Nevertheless, their use in the care of older adults remains limited. This paper presents an AR-enhanced audio/video communication service designed and developed by following an iterative, user-centered co-creation approach involving older adults, caregivers, and healthcare providers. The service supports live AR annotations during video calls, aiding tasks such as medication taking and medical device operation. During the co-creation process, 96 participants evaluated the AR service for the first time, supplying crucial feedback that guided its subsequent refinement. Task execution difficulty and usability were evaluated in the living lab session and two field trials involving participants from Cyprus, Poland, and Spain, utilizing the System Usability Scale (SUS). The service achieved an average SUS score of 57 during the first iteration of the field trials and an increase to 65.70 in the second iteration of the field trials. This demonstrates iterative alignment with user expectations and the AR’s potential to support remote care communication.