Modelling an Embodied Conversational Agent for Remote and Isolated Caregivers on Leadership Styles

In a medical environment, coordination between medical staff is imperative. In cases in which a human doctor or medical coordinator is not present, patient care, particularly from non-experts, becomes more difficult. The difficulty increases when care is completed at a remote site, for example, on a manned mission to Mars. Communication capability from medical experts on Mars is limited. To address this problem, a medical assistant remote system is proposed to act as a coordinator between the humans present and the remote medical experts. A virtual agent assuming such a role will accept feedback from both, running the situation without errors and additional stress. Leadership styles will be employed by the agent to develop trust and perception of competence among its followers. Additionally, prediction of behaviour and situational changes by both medical professionals and by the agent are necessary in order to combat a 10-minute latency affecting communication between Earth and Mars.