Evaluating the child-robot interaction of the NAOTherapist platform in pediatric rehabilitation

NAOTherapist is a cognitive robotic architecture whose main goal is to develop non-contact upper-limb rehabilitation sessions autonomously with a social robot for patients with physical impairments. In order to achieve a fluent interaction and an active engagement with the patients, the system should be able to adapt by itself in accordance with the perceived environment. In this paper, we describe the interaction mechanisms that are necessary to supervise and help the patient to carry out the prescribed exercises correctly. We also provide an evaluation focused on the child-robot interaction of the robotic platform with a large number of schoolchildren and the experience of a first contact with three pediatric rehabilitation patients. The results presented are obtained through questionnaires, video analysis and system logs, and have proven to be consistent with the hypotheses proposed in this work

A framework for user adaptation and profiling for social robotics in rehabilitation

Physical rehabilitation therapies for children present a challenge, and its success—the improvement of the patient’s condition—depends on many factors, such as the patient’s attitude and motivation, the correct execution of the exercises prescribed by the specialist or his progressive recovery during the therapy. With the aim to increase the benefits of these therapies, social humanoid robots with a friendly aspect represent a promising tool not only to boost the interaction with the pediatric patient, but also to assist physicians in their work. To achieve both goals, it is essential to monitor in detail the patient’s condition, trying to generate user profile models which enhance the feedback with both the system and the specialist. This paper describes how the project NAOTherapist—a robotic architecture for rehabilitation with social robots—has been upgraded in order to include a monitoring system able to generate user profile models through the interaction with the patient, performing user-adapted therapies. Furthermore, the system has been improved by integrating a machine learning algorithm which recognizes the pose adopted by the patient and by adding a clinical reports generation system based on the QUEST metricThis work is partially funded by grant RTI2018-099522-B-C43 of FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación - Ministerio de Universidades - Agencia Estatal de Investigació

Developing a robot-guided interactive simon game for physical and cognitive training

Enveloping cognitive or physical rehabilitation into a game highly increases the patients' commitment with their treatment. Specially with children, keeping them motivated is a very time-consuming work, so therapists are demanding tools to help them with this task. NAOTherapist is a generic robotic architecture that uses Automated Planning techniques to autonomously drive noncontact upper-limb rehabilitation sessions for children with a humanoid NAO robot. Our aim is to develop more robotic games for this platform to enrich its variability and possibilities of interaction. The goal of this work is to present our first attempt to develop a different, more complex game that reuses the previous architecture. We contribute with the design description of a novel robotic Simon game that employs upper-limb poses instead of colors and could qualify as a cognitive and physical training. Statistics of evaluation tests with 14 adults and 56 children are displayed and the outcomes are analyzed in terms of human-robot interaction (HRI) quality. The results demonstrate the application-domain generalization capabilities of the NAOTherapist architecture and give an insight to further analyze the therapeutic benefits of the new developed Simon game.This work is partially funded by grant TIN2012-38079-C03-02 and TIN2015-65686- C5-1-R of Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. We also want to thank the Joan Miró school of Leganés for their assistance with the evaluations, to the teachers and the management team for their support, and specially to all the children who kindly participated in the evaluation and enjoyed playing with our robots

A three-layer planning architecture for the autonomous control of rehabilitation therapies based on social robots

This manuscript focuses on the description of a novel cognitive architecture called NAOTherapist, which provides a social robot with enough autonomy to carry out a non-contact upper limb rehabilitation therapy for patients with physical impairments, such as cerebral palsy and obstetric brachial plexus palsy. NAOTherapist comprises three levels of Automated Planning. In the high-level planning, the physician establishes the parameters of the therapy such as the scheduling of the sessions, the therapeutic objectives to be achieved and certain constraints based on the medical records of the patient. This information is used to establish a customized therapy plan. The objective of the medium-level planning is to execute and monitor every previous planned session with the humanoid robot. Finally, the low-level planning involves the execution of path-planning actions by the robot to carry out different low-level instructions such as performing poses. The technical evaluation shows an accurate definition and monitoring of the therapies and sessions and a fluent interaction with the robot. This automated process is expected to save time for the professionals while guaranteeing the medical criteria.This work is partially funded by grant TIN2015-65686-C5-1-R and TIN2012-38079-C03-02 of Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

Adaptación de una plataforma robótica social e interactiva para su uso en rehabilitación bimanual intensiva

La plataforma NaoTherapist es un sistema robótico cuyo objetivo es desarrollar sesiones de rehabilitación socialmente interactivas para pacientes pediátricos con impedimentos físicos. Este proyecto se inició como una herramienta de apoyo en las terapias de rehabilitación con niñoos, pues estas requieren una mayor atenciónn continua por parte de los terapeutas y una mayor necesidad de motivación, enmascarando los ejercicios de rehabilitación en un entorno de juego. Aunque esta herramienta terapéutica ya fue evaluada con los pacientes reales en una evaluación a largo plazo, se planteó que el sistema participara en un campo de Terapia Intensiva para pacientes con Parálisis Cerebral. Algo que finalmente ha tenido lugar en julio de 2017. Todo esto presenta nuevos retos en el proyecto NaoTherapist, que deben ser considerados para proporcionar una mejor experiencia diaria a los participantes involucrados, de acuerdo a la metodología HABIT empleada en dicho campamento. Este trabajo describe todo el proceso de desarrollo seguido para la elaboración de nuevos componentes que buscan perfeccionar el modelo de rehabilitación robótica, tanto con la inclusión de nuevos juegos terapéuticos con NAO como con la adaptación individualizada a los usuarios, que permitan mejorar la interacción con los usuarios, proporcionando así una mayor motivación y adherencia en su tratamiento. También se ha trabajado en la actualización de algunos componentes ya desarrollados como el módulo de reconocimiento gestual y monitorización de los pacientes, el cual requería un cambio en pos de ser compatible con la nueva versión del sensor Kinect. Durante este documento se exponen las diversas etapas de desarrollo por las que se ha pasado: planteamiento del problema y búsqueda de documentación, análisis y captura de requisitos mediante entrevistas con terapeutas expertos, diseño e implementación de los componentes, y fase de pruebas. A toda esta exposición se unen unos capítulos especialmente dedicados a la posible puesta en marcha del proyecto como negocio empresarial, y al marco legislativo aplicable a un proyecto de estas características. Cabe destacar que todo el trabajo realizado culmina con una evaluación de la plataforma en un entorno clínico real, con pacientes reales, y una publicación de conferencia.The NaoTherapist platform is a robotic system whose goal is to develop socially interactive rehabilitation sessions for pediatric patients with physical disabilities. This project started as a support tool in rehabilitation therapies with children, since sessions require a greater continuous attention on the part of the therapists and a greater need of motivation, masking the rehabilitation exercises in a game environment. Although this therapeutic tool was already evaluated with the real patients in a long-term evaluation, it was suggested that the system participates in an Intensive Therapy eld for patients with Cerebral Palsy. Something that nally took place in July 2017. All this presents new challenges in the NaoTherapist project, which should be considered to provide a better daily experience for the participants involved, according to the HABIT methodology used in the camp. This document describes the entire development process followed for the elaboration of new components that seek to perfect the robotic rehabilitation model, both with the inclusion of new therapeutic games with NAO and with the individualized adaptation to the users, that allow to improve the interaction with the users, thus providing greater motivation and adherence in their treatment. Theres is also work on the update of some components already developed, as the module of gestural recognition and monitoring of patients, which require a change in order to be compatible with the new version of the Kinect sensor. This document outline the various stages of development that have taken place: problem solving and document search, analysis and capture of requirements through interviews with expert therapists, design and implementation of the components, and testing phase. Throughout this exhibition are joined chapters especially dedicated to the possible implementation of the project as a business, and to the legislative framework applicable to such a project. It should be noted that all the work completed culminates with an evaluation of the platform in a real clinical environment, with real patients, and a conference publication.Grado en Informátic

Accessibility requirements for human-robot interaction for socially assistive robots

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorPrograma de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Informática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: María Ángeles Malfaz Vázquez.- Secretario: Diego Martín de Andrés.- Vocal: Mike Wal

Socially assistive robots as mental health interventions for children : a scoping review

Socially Assistive Robots are promising in their potential to promote and support mental health in children. There is a growing number of studies investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of robot interventions in supporting children’s mental wellbeing. Although preliminary evidence suggests that Socially Assistive Robots may have the potential to help address concerns such as stress and anxiety in children, there is a need for a greater focus in examining the impact of robotic interventions in this population. In order to better understand the current state of the evidence in this field and identify critical gaps, we carried out a scoping review of the available literature examining how social robots are investigated as means to support mental health in children. We identified existing types of robot intervention and measures that are being used to investigate specific mental health outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that robot interventions for children may positively impact mental health outcomes such as relief of distress and increase positive affect. Results also show that the strength of evidence needs to be improved to determine what types of robotic interventions could be most effective and readily implemented in pediatric mental health care. Based on our findings, we propose a set of recommendations to guide further research in this area

CLARA: Building a Socially Assistive Robot to Interact with Elderly People

Although the global population is aging, the proportion of potential caregivers is not keeping pace. It is necessary for society to adapt to this demographic change, and new technologies are a powerful resource for achieving this. New tools and devices can help to ease independent living and alleviate the workload of caregivers. Among them, socially assistive robots (SARs), which assist people with social interactions, are an interesting tool for caregivers thanks to their proactivity, autonomy, interaction capabilities, and adaptability. This article describes the different design and implementation phases of a SAR, the CLARA robot, both from a physical and software point of view, from 2016 to 2022. During this period, the design methodology evolved from traditional approaches based on technical feasibility to user-centered co-creative processes. The cognitive architecture of the robot, CORTEX, keeps its core idea of using an inner representation of the world to enable inter-procedural dialogue between perceptual, reactive, and deliberative modules. However, CORTEX also evolved by incorporating components that use non-functional properties to maximize efficiency through adaptability. The robot has been employed in several projects for different uses in hospitals and retirement homes. This paper describes the main outcomes of the functional and user experience evaluations of these experiments.This work has been partially funded by the EU ECHORD++ project (FP7-ICT-601116), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 825003 (DIH-HERO SUSTAIN), the RoQME and MiRON Integrated Technical Projects funded, in turn, by the EU RobMoSys project (H20202-732410), the project RTI2018-099522-B-C41, funded by the Gobierno de España and FEDER funds, the AT17-5509-UMA and UMA18-FEDERJA-074 projects funded by the Junta de Andalucía, and the ARMORI (CEIATECH-10) and B1-2021_26 projects funded by the University of Málaga. Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga

Socially assistive robots : the specific case of the NAO

Numerous researches have studied the development of robotics, especially socially assistive robots (SAR), including the NAO robot. This small humanoid robot has a great potential in social assistance. The NAO robot’s features and capabilities, such as motricity, functionality, and affective capacities, have been studied in various contexts. The principal aim of this study is to gather every research that has been done using this robot to see how the NAO can be used and what could be its potential as a SAR. Articles using the NAO in any situation were found searching PSYCHINFO, Computer and Applied Sciences Complete and ACM Digital Library databases. The main inclusion criterion was that studies had to use the NAO robot. Studies comparing it with other robots or intervention programs were also included. Articles about technical improvements were excluded since they did not involve concrete utilisation of the NAO. Also, duplicates and articles with an important lack of information on sample were excluded. A total of 51 publications (1895 participants) were included in the review. Six categories were defined: social interactions, affectivity, intervention, assisted teaching, mild cognitive impairment/dementia, and autism/intellectual disability. A great majority of the findings are positive concerning the NAO robot. Its multimodality makes it a SAR with potential