Virtual Humans in Virtual Reality Mental Health Research: Systematic Review

VHs are versatile tools to be used within VR mental health applications, but their design features are inconsistently reported and insufficiently examined in relation to intervention outcomes. Evidence is limited by heterogeneity in study aims, designs, and populations, and by incomplete reporting of VH characteristics, which constrains replication and cross-study comparison. Standardized reporting and systematic investigations of VH design are needed to optimize their roles in evidence-based mental health applications.