Developing an AI-Powered VR chatbot for immersive medical English training

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Published

2026-05-29
Issue: Volume 2 Issue 1 (2026)
Section: Articles

Copyright (c) 2026 Takeru Kanahama, Jeanette Dennison, James York, Gary Ross, Hiroshi Nakayama

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors

  • Takeru Kanahama Email Tokyo Denki University, Japan
  • Jeanette Dennison Email ORCiD St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Japan
  • James York Email Meiji University, Japan
  • Gary Ross Email Kanazawa University, Japan
  • Hiroshi Nakayama Email Tokyo Denki University, Japan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29140/jct.v2n1.103496

Abstract

Japanese medical students have limited opportunities for medical English communication training. To overcome these limitations, we have been developing AI-driven medical English communication tools that utilize speech-to-text technology. Here, we developed a tool that leverages virtual reality (VR) to practice medical interviews with an AI patient. We tested this tool on pre-clinical Japanese medical students in comparison with a browser-based AI-driven communication tool. Based on the post-training student survey, the VR-AI tool was preferred over all other alternative training methods, including those involving human simulated patients and the browser-based chatbot tool. Further development and testing are needed to address technical parameters and reliability, allowing for improved future medical English communication training tools.

Keywords: virtual reality, artificial intelligence, chatbot, speech synthesis, English for specific purposes

Suggested Citation:

Kanahama, T., Dennison, J., York, J., Ross, G., & Nakayama, H. (2026). Developing an AI-Powered VR chatbot for immersive medical English training. JALTCALL Trends, 2(1), 103496. https://doi.org/10.29140/jct.v2n1.103496