Design and Development of a Virtual Reality Prototype for a Smart Waiting Room Promoting Occupants’ Well-Being

With the growing interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), intelligent technologies have become prevalent in daily life. One of the prominent application areas is the development of ‘smart’ environments, primarily in private spaces such as ‘smart’ homes. However, implementing these technologies in shared spaces could also offer significant benefits, particularly in clinical waiting rooms, which stand out as a neglected research area despite their potential to improve patient experience and healthcare outcomes. These spaces pose several challenges, including an increased stress level and a lower perceived care quality, as they naturally accommodate many individuals who spend extended periods of time there. Also, the environmental characteristics of waiting rooms that affect occupants’ stress or emotions are yet to be fully investigated. To address these challenges, this work aims to design a Virtual Reality (VR)-based prototypical waiting room that aims to support the evaluation of customized environmental features impact on the waiting experience. This allows for a straightforward assessment of their effects on patients’ perceived stress and well-being, even in the absence of a real physical environment. This paper presents the ongoing development of the VR-based Smart Waiting Room, along with its customization features, as enabled by ontologies, and proposes a validation protocol to test the effectiveness of the environmental modifications we introduced.