Sandra Bedaf1,2, Patrizia Marti3,4, Farshid Amirabdollahian5, Luc de Witte1,2. 1. a Research Centre Technology in Care, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences , Heerlen , The Netherlands. 2. b School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI) , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands. 3. c Department of Social Political Cognitive Science , University of Siena , Siena , Italy. 4. d Department of Social Political Cognitive Science, Faculty of Industrial Design , Eindhoven University of Technology , Eindhoven , The Netherlands. 5. e Adaptive Systems Research Group, School of Computer Science , University of Hertfordshire , Hatfield , UK.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The potential of service robots for seniors is given increasing attention as the ageing population in Western countries will continue to grow as well as the demand for home care. In order to capture the experience of living with a robot at home, a multi-perspective evaluation was conducted. METHODS: Older adults (n = 10) were invited to execute an actual interaction scenario with the Care-O-bot® robot in a home-like environment and were questioned about their experiences. Additionally, interviews were conducted with the elderly participants, informal carers (n = 7) and professional caregivers (n = 11). RESULTS: Seniors showed to be more keen to accept the robot than their caregivers and relatives. However, the robot in its current form was found to be too limited and participants wished the robot could perform more complex tasks. In order to be acceptable a future robot should execute these complex tasks based on the personal preferences of the user which would require the robot to be flexible and extremely smart, comparable to the care that is delivered by a human carer. CONCLUSIONS: Developing the functional features to perform activities is not the only challenge in robot development that deserves the attention of robot developers. The development of social behaviour and skills should be addressed as well. This is possible adopting a person-centred design approach, which relies on validation activities with actual users in realistic environments, similar to those described in this paper. Implications for rehabilitation Attitude of older adults towards service robots Potential of service robotsfor older adults.
PURPOSE: The potential of service robots for seniors is given increasing attention as the ageing population in Western countries will continue to grow as well as the demand for home care. In order to capture the experience of living with a robot at home, a multi-perspective evaluation was conducted. METHODS: Older adults (n = 10) were invited to execute an actual interaction scenario with the Care-O-bot® robot in a home-like environment and were questioned about their experiences. Additionally, interviews were conducted with the elderly participants, informal carers (n = 7) and professional caregivers (n = 11). RESULTS: Seniors showed to be more keen to accept the robot than their caregivers and relatives. However, the robot in its current form was found to be too limited and participants wished the robot could perform more complex tasks. In order to be acceptable a future robot should execute these complex tasks based on the personal preferences of the user which would require the robot to be flexible and extremely smart, comparable to the care that is delivered by a human carer. CONCLUSIONS: Developing the functional features to perform activities is not the only challenge in robot development that deserves the attention of robot developers. The development of social behaviour and skills should be addressed as well. This is possible adopting a person-centred design approach, which relies on validation activities with actual users in realistic environments, similar to those described in this paper. Implications for rehabilitation Attitude of older adults towards service robots Potential of service robotsfor older adults.
Entities:
Keywords:
Ageing in place; independent living; older adults; service robots
Authors: Colleen M Peterson; Jude P Mikal; Hayley R McCarron; Jessica M Finlay; Lauren L Mitchell; Joseph E Gaugler Journal: JMIR Aging Date: 2020-06-26
Authors: Slawomir Tobis; Agnieszka Neumann-Podczaska; Sylwia Kropinska; Aleksandra Suwalska Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-06-07 Impact factor: 3.390