Methodological Issues in Scenario-Based Evaluation of Human–Robot Interaction

Scenarios have been widely used for evaluating human–robot interactions (HRIs). However, little has been reported on systematic utilization of different types of media for deploying HRI scenarios. This study investigates the methodological issues in scenario-based HRI evaluation, focusing on the effect of scenario media on user attitudes toward robots. Two experiments are designed to examine how scenario media may influence the elder adults’ attitudes towards social robots. Different types of scenario media, including text, video, interactive video, and live interaction, were compared systematically with respect to established evaluation criteria. The results showed that the characteristics of scenario media influenced users’ acceptance of robots and affected their attitudes. The outcome of the study helps designers to select scenario media for deploying contextual information of HRI.ASTAR (Agency for Sci., Tech. and Research, S’pore

Personality of social robots perceived through the appearance

Past research showed that people are able to perceive the personality of others at zero acquaintances. There are two main ways, verbal and non-verbal methods, which play an important role for one in perceiving personality of others. Extensive research was conducted in relating personality with verbal, paralinguistic and gestures cues. However, there are not much research, to our knowledge, that relates the appearance and perceived personality of robots. The main objective of this research is to relate individual design features with big five perceived personality of the robots. We used the results of rated perceptions across 100 pictorial images of robots and relate the results with the 40 individual design features using General Linear Model (GLM). The initial results of the GLM analysis showed that participants’ rating of personality of robot fell along the dimension of perceived friendliness which is a common rotation of extroversion and agreeableness. Some relationships were found between humanlike design features and perceived friendliness of robots. Since participants are more familiar with humans, participants perceived robots with humanlike features friendlier than the others. Some other findings such as color and surface material were found related with participants’ perceived friendliness as well. In the future, we will work on the analysis of the main and interaction effects of individual features on user’s perceived friendliness

Lessons on Drug Development: A Literature Review of Challenges Faced in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Clinical Trials

NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, occurring in both obese and lean patients. It can lead to life-threatening liver diseases and nonhepatic complications, such as cirrhosis and cardiovascular diseases, that burden public health and the health care system. Current care is weight loss through diet and exercise, which is a challenging goal to achieve. However, there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies for NAFLD. This review thoroughly examines the clinical trial findings from 22 drugs (Phase 2 and above) and evaluates the future direction that trials should take for further drug development. These trialed drugs can broadly be categorized into five groups—hypoglycemic, lipid-lowering, bile-pathway, anti-inflammatory, and others, which include nutraceuticals. The multitude of challenges faced in these yet-to-be-approved NAFLD drug trials provided insight into a few areas of improvement worth considering. These include drug repurposing, combinations, noninvasive outcomes, standardization, adverse event alleviation, and the need for precision medicine with more extensive consideration of NAFLD heterogenicity in drug trials. Understandably, every evolution of the drug development landscape lies with its own set of challenges. However, this paper believes in the importance of always learning from lessons of the past, with each potential improvement pushing clinical trials an additional step forward toward discovering appropriate drugs for effective NAFLD management

Lessons on drug development: a literature review of challenges faced in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) clinical trials

NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, occurring in both obese and lean patients. It can lead to life-threatening liver diseases and nonhepatic complications, such as cirrhosis and cardiovascular diseases, that burden public health and the health care system. Current care is weight loss through diet and exercise, which is a challenging goal to achieve. However, there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies for NAFLD. This review thoroughly examines the clinical trial findings from 22 drugs (Phase 2 and above) and evaluates the future direction that trials should take for further drug development. These trialed drugs can broadly be categorized into five groups-hypoglycemic, lipid-lowering, bile-pathway, anti-inflammatory, and others, which include nutraceuticals. The multitude of challenges faced in these yet-to-be-approved NAFLD drug trials provided insight into a few areas of improvement worth considering. These include drug repurposing, combinations, noninvasive outcomes, standardization, adverse event alleviation, and the need for precision medicine with more extensive consideration of NAFLD heterogenicity in drug trials. Understandably, every evolution of the drug development landscape lies with its own set of challenges. However, this paper believes in the importance of always learning from lessons of the past, with each potential improvement pushing clinical trials an additional step forward toward discovering appropriate drugs for effective NAFLD management.Ministry of Education (MOE)Published versionThis work is supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education under its Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (RG30/20) (NST)

The role of social context in human-robot interaction

Users' experience of interacting with a robot is mediated by the context that characterizes the co-existence of the human and the robot. However, it has been difficult to study the role of social context in human-robot interaction (HRI) in experimental settings. In this research, we evaluated how social context influenced user acceptance of social robots in a controlled experiment. Using video scenarios with low- and high-level of contextual information, we examined the role of social context in modulating user acceptance. We found that user acceptance of the robot was contingent on the social context, and that information related to social context influenced the amount of user feedback generated by the users concerning the characteristics of social robots

Effect of scenario media on elder adults' evaluation of human-robot interaction

When evaluating user attitudes toward social robots in human-robot interactions (HRIs), one should exploit the rich contextual information in the HRI. Such information is usually represented as HRI scenarios, which can be conveyed using different media. We investigated how different media of scenarios might influence elder adults' evaluation of social robots. Three media (text, video, and live interaction) were used to elicit user acceptance and feedback, where the content of scenarios was kept similar. We found that multiple aspects of user acceptance were influenced by the scenario media. Moreover, more design problems were elicited when users were exposed to media with higher fidelity. The results shed light on the selection of scenario media in HRI evaluation

Effect of scenario media on human-robot interaction evaluation

Different media used to present the human-robot interaction (HRI) scenarios may affect users' perception of a robot in the user studies. We investigated how different scenario media (text, video, and live interaction) might influence user evaluation of social robots based on a controlled experiment. We found that multiple aspects of user acceptance were influenced by the scenario media. Moreover, more design problems and redesign proposals were elicited when users were exposed to media with higher fidelity. The results led to useful insights into choosing scenario media in HRI evaluation

Establishing the Thematic Framework for a Diabetes-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Item Bank for Use in an English-Speaking Asian Population

Aims To establish a thematic framework for a Diabetes Mellitus (DM)-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) item bank by identifying important HRQoL themes and content gaps in existing DM-specific HRQoL measures and determining whether Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) item banks are useful as a starting point. Methodology English-speaking Type 2 DM patients were recruited from an outpatient specialist clinic in Singapore. Thematic analysis was performed through open coding and axial coding. Items from four existing DM-specific measures and PROMIS Version 1.0 and 2.0 item banks were compared with identified themes and sub-themes. Results 42 patients participated (25 men and 17 women; 28 Chinese, 4 Malay, 8 Indians, 2 other ethnicities). Median age was 53.70 years (IQR45.82–56.97) and the median disease duration was 11.13 (SD9.77) years. 10 subthemes (neutral emotions, coping emotions, empowered to help others, support from family, spend more time with family, relationships, financial burden on family, improved relationship, social support and religion/spirituality) were not covered by existing DM-specific measures. PROMIS covered 5 of 6 themes, 15 of 30 subthemes and 19 of 35 codes identified. Emotional distress (frustration, fear and anxiety) was most frequently mentioned (200 times). Conclusions We had developed a thematic framework for assessing DM-specific HRQoL in a multi-ethnic Asian population, identified new items that needed to be written and confirmed that PROMIS was a useful starting point. We hope that better understanding and measurement of HRQoL of Asian DM patients will translate to better quality of care for them.Public Library of Science open acces

Top 10 most frequently mentioned codes.

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