1,920 research outputs found
Views from within a narrative : Evaluating long-term human-robot interaction in a naturalistic environment using open-ended scenarios
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. Date of acceptance: 16/06/2014This article describes the prototyping of humanârobot interactions in the University of Hertfordshire (UH) Robot House. Twelve participants took part in a long-term study in which they interacted with robots in the UH Robot House once a week for a period of 10 weeks. A prototyping method using the narrative framing technique allowed participants to engage with the robots in episodic interactions that were framed using narrative to convey the impression of a continuous long-term interaction. The goal was to examine how participants responded to the scenarios and the robots as well as specific robot behaviours, such as agent migration and expressive behaviours. Evaluation of the robots and the scenarios were elicited using several measures, including the standardised System Usability Scale, an ad hoc Scenario Acceptance Scale, as well as single-item Likert scales, open-ended questionnaire items and a debriefing interview. Results suggest that participants felt that the use of this prototyping technique allowed them insight into the use of the robot, and that they accepted the use of the robot within the scenarioPeer reviewe
Personal care robots for older adults: an overview
In recent decades, the usages of robots in variety of industries have been increased. Self-directed robots have appeared in human lives, specifically, in the areas related to the lives of elderly. The population of old people is significantly growing worldwide. Therefore, there the demand for personal care robots is increasing. The aim of this demand is to enhance the opportunity of mobility and promote independence. In the future, robots care will be in very near contact with people lives. But, what caring roles will robots have at home in the future before old persons? It depends not only on the kinds of robots but also those facets of ageing which are discussed in the paper. This article probes the part and function of robots care in the lifecycle of older adults. It contemplates on the advantages and disadvantages of robots application in human life
The Emerging Role of Robotics in Personal Health Care: Bringing Smart Health Care Home
Affordable, accessible health care is in short supply in the U.S., due to the rapidly aging population; robotics can provide a solution to this problem. This project developed user requirements for a personal health care robot. From interviews with robotics professionals and focus groups with caregivers and the elderly, the team gained an understanding of potential usersâ desired functionalities and acceptance of robots. The team developed a taxonomy to characterize robotsâ interaction with users. The requirements generated by the studies were used in conjunction with this taxonomy to recommend a robot for use in personal health care. An in-home monitoring system was found to have the greatest potential to benefit the health care industry and the target demographic
Do People Change their Behavior when the Handler is next to the Robot?
It is increasingly common for people to work alongside robots in a variety of situations. When a robot is completing a task, the handler of the robot may be present. It is important to know how people interact with the robot when the handler is next to the robot. Our study focuses on whether handlerâs presence can affect humanâs behavior toward the robot. Our experiment targets two different scenarios (handler present and handler absent) in order to find out humanâs behavior change toward the robot. Results show that in the handler present scenario, people are less willing to interact with the robot. However, when people do interact with the robot, they tend to interact with both the handler and the robot. This suggests that researchers should consider the presence of a handler when designing for human-robot interactions
Between Fear and Trust: Factors Influencing Older Adults' Evaluation of Socially Assistive Robots
Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) are expected to support autonomy, aging in
place, and wellbeing in later life. For successful assimilation, it is
necessary to understand factors affecting older adults Quality Evaluations
(QEs) of SARs, including the pragmatic and hedonic evaluations and overall
attractiveness. Previous studies showed that trust in robots significantly
enhances QE, while technophobia considerably decreases it. The current study
aimed to examine the relative impact of these two factors on older persons QE
of SARs. The study was based on an online survey of 384 individuals aged 65 and
above. Respondents were presented with a video of a robotic system for physical
and cognitive training and filled out a questionnaire relating to that system.
The results indicated a positive association between trust and QE and a
negative association between technophobia and QE. A simultaneous exploration
demonstrated that the relative impact of technophobia is significantly more
substantial than that of trust. In addition, the pragmatic qualities of the
robot were found to be more crucial to its QE than the social aspects of use.
The findings suggest that implementing robotics technology in later life
strongly depends on reducing older adults technophobia regarding the
convenience of using SARs and highlight the importance of simultaneous
explorations of facilitators and inhibitors
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 KOMPAĂ 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 KOMPAĂ 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 itâs 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
Mini: A New Social Robot for the Elderly
The unceasing aging of the population is leading to new problems in developed countries. Robots represent an opportunity to extend the period of independent living of the elderly as well as to ameliorate their economic burden and social problems. We present a new social robot, Mini, specifically designed to assist and accompany the elderly in their daily life either at home or in a nursing facility. Based on the results of several meetings with experts in this field, we have built a robot able to provide services in the areas of safety, entertainment, personal assistance and stimulation. Mini supports elders and caregivers in cognitive and mental tasks. We present the robot platform and describe the software architecture, particularly focussing on the humanârobot interaction. We give in detail how the robot operates and the interrelation of the different modules of the robot in a real use case. In the last part of the paper, we evaluated how users perceive the robot. Participants reported interesting results in terms of usability, appearance, and satisfaction. This paper describes all aspects of the design and development of a new social robot that can be used by other researchers who face the multiple challenges of creating a new robotic platform for older people.The research leading to these results has received funding from the
projects: Development of social robots to help seniors with cognitive
impairment (ROBSEN), funded by the Ministerio de EconomĂa y
Competitividad; and Robots Sociales para EstimulaciĂłn FĂsica,
Cognitiva y Afectiva de Mayores (ROSES), funded by the Ministerio
de Ciencia, InnovaciĂłn y Universidades.Publicad
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