Digital Transformation in Health Care: Augmented Reality for Hands-Free Service Innovation

Health care professionals regularly require access to information systems throughout their daily work. However, existing smart devices like smartphones and tablets are difficult to use at the point of care, because health care professionals require both hands during their work. Following a design science research approach including ethnographic fieldwork and prototype tests with focus groups, we find that Augmented Reality smart glass applications offer potential for service innovation in the health care sector. Our smart glass prototype supports health care professionals during wound treatment by allowing them to document procedures hands-free while they perform them. Furthermore, we investigate the use of audio based and physical interaction with the smart glasses in a within-subjects design experiment.