Development of a nursing communication education support system using nurse-patient embodied avatars with a smile and eyeball movement model

Facial expressions, such as a smile and gaze line, play an important role in nursing communication. Nursing students need to learn and understand how to communicate with patients through experience. We have developed a nursing communication education support system using embodied avatars; however, these avatars cannot exhibit facial expressions. In this study, an advanced nursing communication education support system using embodied avatars that have a smile and eyeball movement model is developed so as to improve the effectiveness of nursing communication education support. In addition, a communication experiment examines the effectiveness of the smile and eyeball movement model for nurse-patient avatars.