Primary supervisor

Agnes Haryanto

Co-supervisors

Pharmacists handle thousands of medications daily, requiring constant verification of prescriptions, allergy checks, and inventory management across multiple digital and physical systems. This fragmented workflow leads to frequent context switching, high cognitive load, and increased risk of workflow inefficiencies and medication errors. 

To address these challenges, this project investigates the application of Augmented Reality (AR) glasses to provide critical information, such as drug names, dosages, and allergy alerts, directly within the pharmacist’s field of view, alongside spatial navigation cues for medication retrieval. The objective is to develop and evaluate an AR system that assists pharmacists with prescription verification and inventory navigation safely and effectively. Streamlining access to essential information at the point of need may reduce medication errors and cognitive workload, while improving dispensing accuracy, speed, situational awareness, and overall workflow efficiency.
 

Aim/outline

The aim of this research is to identify pharmacists' needs, workflow challenges, and opportunities for AR to add value and mitigate the risk of medication errors, thereby informing user requirements and design insights for future AR-supported pharmacy systems.

URLs/references

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. (2023). Professional Practice Standards 2023. In Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. https://www.psa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/5933-Professional-Practice-Standards_FINAL-1.pdf

AHPRA. (2019). Pharmacy Board of Australia - Codes, Guidelines and Policies. Pharmacyboard.gov.au. https://www.pharmacyboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines.aspxUm, I. S., Clough, A., & Edwin C.K. Tan. (2024). Dispensing error rates in pharmacy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 20(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2023.10.003

James, K. L., Barlow, D., McArtney, R., Hiom, S., Roberts, D., & Whittlesea, C. (2009). Incidence, type and causes of dispensing errors: A review of the literature. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 17(1), 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1211/ijpp.17.1.0004

William B. Runciman, Elizabeth E. Roughead, Susan J. Semple, Robert J. Adams, Adverse drug events and medication errors in Australia, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, Volume 15, Issue suppl_1, December 2003, Pages i49–i59, https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzg085

Poole, S. G., Kwong, E., Mok, B., Mulqueeny, B., Yi, M., Percival, M. A., Marsom, E. N., Duncan, C., & Graudins, L. V. (2021). Interventions to decrease the incidence of dispensing errors in hospital pharmacy: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, 51(1), 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/jppr.1709

Roosan, D. (2023). Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence: Applications in Pharmacy. Springer Series on Cultural Computing, 227–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27166-3_13

Mascarenas, D. (2018). Augmented Reality To Track Prescription Drug Inventories. https://doi.org/10.2172/1479912

 

Required knowledge

  • Background in computer science, IT, or a related field
  • Interest in Digital health (particularly in Pharmacy), human-computer interaction (HCI), or emerging technologies such as augmented reality
  • Basic understanding of qualitative research methods (e.g., interviews, observations) is desirable
  • Strong communication and organisational skills, particularly for conducting interviews and synthesising findings
  • Ability to work independently and engage in critical thinking and problem-solving