Lack of observational evidence for quantum structure of space-time at Plank scales

It has been noted (Lieu & Hillmann, 2002) that the cumulative affect of Planck-scale phenomenology, or the structure of space-time at extremely small scales, can be lead to the loss of phase of radiation emitted at large distances from the observer. We elaborate on such an approach and demonstrate that such an effect would lead to an apparent blurring of distant point-sources. Evidence of the diffraction pattern from the HST observations of SN 1994D and the unresolved appearance of a Hubble Deep Field galaxy at z=5.34 lead us to put stringent limits on the effects of Planck-scale phenomenology.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepter for ApJ

Adding a context:will it influence human-robot interaction of people living with dementia?

Improving the quality of life of people with dementia in long-term care facilities is very important and can be achieved by designing engaging activities for the residents. The introduction of social robots for people with dementia has already proven its benefits, and we expected that adding contextual cues to this interaction would enhance the positive engagement of these individuals. A total of five participants took part in a comparison study in which they engaged in a free-play session with the robot PLEO and in a free-play session with the robot PLEO within a jungle-themed context. The gaze and arm/hand behaviors of the participants were measured and were used to determine the level of their engagement. Contrary to our expectations, we found a significant decrease in engagement for the sessions where the context was added to the interaction. Our explanation of this result is that the added cues increased the threshold to interact with the robot, but the elderly were still engaged as spectators

Designing robot verbal and nonverbal interactions in socially assistive domain for quality ageing in place

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020. Endowing robots with the role of social assistance in silver care could be a powerful tool to combat chronic loneliness in ageing adults. These robots can be tasked with functional and affective care to support quotidian living and grant companionship that helps lessen the burden of cognitive decline and impairment emerging from social isolation. To accomplish such imperative tasks, artificial agents must be adept at communicating naturally with the human elder. In this work, we aim to enable human–robot interaction by designing human-like verbal and nonverbal behaviours of an autonomous robot companion. We employed the robot on a trial run using customisable algorithms to address a range of needs, while thriving social and emotional attachment with the potential senior user, with the final intent being that such endeavours can help achieve quality ageing in place