Digital Humans for Depression Assessment and Intervention Support: Scoping Review

In plain English

A review of 20 studies published between 2010 and 2024 on digital humans used in depression care, split between assessment work (35%) and intervention work (55%, spanning CBT, psychoeducation, compassion-focused therapy and avatar therapy). Across the set the digital human took one of five roles — interviewer, facilitator, counselor, educator or actor — and design choices for appearance, interaction modality and backend varied widely, which is a large part of why results across studies are hard to compare. Useful as a map of what has actually been trialled clinically, and as evidence that the field still has no settled design baseline.