Jurnal RESTI (Rekayasa Sistem dan Teknologi Informasi)
Vol 9 No 6 (2025): December 2025

Speech-Based Virtual Assistant for Mental Health Support Through Natural Interaction

Kurniawan, Dimas Rizqi (Unknown)
Avianto, Donny (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
11 Jan 2026

Abstract

Mental health is a significant global concern. Indonesia has reported high rates of depression and anxiety, compounded by limited emotional outlets. Although AI virtual assistants are prevalent in e-commerce and education, their application in mental health remains underexplored. Existing solutions are predominantly text-based and transactional, which restricts empathetic and natural interactions. This study develops a voice-based assistant by integrating Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), a generative AI for empathetic responses, and a Text-to-Speech (TTS) module fine-tuned on an Indonesian dataset to adapt accent and prosody. The system underwent both technical evaluation and human testing to assess its feasibility and user experience. The results showed that the TTS model converged effectively with low loss. Human evaluation indicated 'good' interaction (MS = 3.91, SD = 0.02), 'good' AI responses (MS = 3.83, SD = 0.26), and 'fair' TTS naturalness (MOS = 3.27, SD = 0.05). Most participants found the assistant's responses meaningful, pleasant, and helpful in managing low to moderate anxiety. These results suggest that a voice-based assistant has the potential to support mental health in Indonesia. Future work should enhance speech naturalness and utilize a larger participant pool for evaluation.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

RESTI

Publisher

Subject

Computer Science & IT Engineering

Description

Jurnal RESTI (Rekayasa Sistem dan Teknologi Informasi) dimaksudkan sebagai media kajian ilmiah hasil penelitian, pemikiran dan kajian analisis-kritis mengenai penelitian Rekayasa Sistem, Teknik Informatika/Teknologi Informasi, Manajemen Informatika dan Sistem Informasi. Sebagai bagian dari semangat ...