Table 2.
Descriptive data and virtual companion interaction data for the Stage 2 research sample. M—man; W—woman.
| Participant Number | Gender | Age | Cognitive Performance Score | Number of Sessions | Length of Session(s) (min:s) | Subjective Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-1 | W | 83 | 1 | 3 | 7:32 3:39 2:07 |
Session 1—The participant’s voice was mistaken by the software for a language other than English. Session 2—There was an engaging conversation about the participant’s children. The participant enjoyed how immersive the conversation was. Session 3 –The participant gave one-word answers, so the virtual companion kept asking new questions. |
| 2023-2 | W | 87 | 1 | 3 | 25:00 25:00 53:50 |
The participant had stimulating, deep, and personal conversations about traveling, teaching, poetry, and death. The participant did not believe that the virtual companion was a real person. |
| 2023-3 | W | 87 | 3 | 3 | 20:23 29:00 32:53 |
The participant was very engaged, and did not understand that the virtual companion was not a real person. The participant had deep and intimate conversations about their family. |
| 2023-4 | M | 93 | 3 | 3 | 22:39 33:53 30:46 |
Session 1—The participant was engaged but the conversation was “all over the place”. Session 2—The participant was very engaged, and talked about their farm. Session 3—This was primarily a question-and-answer conversation (with questions from the virtual companion), but the participant was engaged. |
| 2023-5 | W | 92 | 3 | 1 | 0:32 | The participant asked to take the head-mounted display off as they found it too heavy. |
| 2023-6 | W | 93 | 1 | 2 | 29:00 34:48 |
The participant had very positive, lengthy conversations about their pet (Session 1) and cuisine/food (Session 2). |
| 2023-7 | W | 96 | 2 | 2 | 2:23 9:10 |
Session 1—The conversation was dry, and the participant thought that the questions were “stupid”. Session 2—The participant gave one-word answers so the software was not able to engage and respond appropriately. |
| 2023-8 | M | 86 | 4 | 1 | 5:50 | The participant answered questions but felt overwhelmed. |
| 2023-9 | W | 86 | 2 | 2 | 0:52 0:00 |
Session 1—The participant had a hard time understanding the virtual companion but was willing to try a second time. Session 2—The participant immediately asked to remove the headset. |
| 2023-10 | W | 67 | 3 | 2 | 2:49 9:29 |
Session 1—The participant took the head-mounted display off but was willing to try a second time. Session 2—The software had difficulty understanding the participant’s speech (due to stuttering) but the participant appeared to enjoy the experience. |
| Frequency or mean (standard deviation) | 2 M 8 W |
87 (8.1) |
2.3 (1.1) |
2.2 (0.8) |
Session 1: 11:42 (11:13) Session 2: 18:07 (14:04) Session 3: 29:54 (21:15) |