The Perceptions of People with Dementia and Key Stakeholders Regarding the Use and Impact of the Social Robot MARIO

People with dementia often experience loneliness and social isolation. This can result in increased cognitive decline which, in turn, has a negative impact on quality of life. This paper explores the use of the social robot, MARIO, with older people living with dementia as a way of addressing these issues. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted to explore the perceptions and experiences of the use and impact of MARIO. The research took place in the UK, Italy and Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were held in each location with people with dementia (n = 38), relatives/carers (n = 28), formal carers (n = 28) and managers (n = 13). The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that despite challenges in relation to voice recognition and the practicalities of conducting research involving robots in real-life settings, most participants were positive about MARIO. Through the robot’s user-led design and personalized applications, MARIO provided a point of interest, social activities, and cognitive engagement increased. However, some formal carers and managers voiced concern that robots might replace care staff

iPad use to Enhance Conversations between Persons with Dementia and their Family Caregivers

Electronic conversational memory notebooks, a more current application of previous hardcopy versions, consist of personally relevant photographs and accompanying sentences. The notebooks help persons with dementia access memories during conversations. Person-centred communication (PCC) recognizes the individual, accommodating for personal beliefs and intentions. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether persons with dementia and their family caregivers could be educated and trained to use PCC while using an iPad-based electronic conversational memory notebook. Seven persons with mild to moderate dementia and their family caregiver completed the six-week study. Participants were educated and trained to use PCC while conversing on 40 family photos uploaded to iPads. Results showed that persons with dementia and their family caregivers significantly increased PCC use post education and training. The findings indicate that conversing on family photos using an electronic conversational memory notebook can elicit PCC between persons with dementia and their family caregivers

Enriching companion robots with enhanced reminiscence abilities

In this document I will go on discussing a project conceived by Professor Andrea Giovanni Nuzzolese and Alessandro Russo, both researchers and developers of some of the main aspects of project Mario at CNR Rome. MARIO is a robot, part of a robotics company called KOMPAÏ Robotics that deals with the production and management of Robots who take care of elderly people who suffer from dementia or who still need an aid; more generally speaking, there is talk of weak and lonely people within an organization and / or institutions (nursing homes ...) or in their own homes. There are numerous characteristics of MARIO, which ultimately contribute to all those which are the manufacturing objectives of KOMPAÏ Robotics. My project, or rather my contribution to MARIO, is to look for a specific method which let the robot show a specific set of photos to the user according to the expressions, feelings and emotions, the user will reveal. Example: the robot randomly chooses a marriage photo and the user suddenly start to laugh and to express positive feelings with positive words; the robot will try to understand if it’s a good photo for the user or not, and in the first case will continue to show the same kind of pictures while in the second case, will change completely set of photos to be shown. The pleasure of the subject expressed in relation to a photo must be subject to an index of interest between predefined and specified values that may be to show a certain interest in a picture or the subjects within the image or the situation that surrounds them