Enhancing Emotional Well Being of Elderly Using Assistive Social Robots in Australia

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv Khosla ◽  
Mei-Tai Chu ◽  
Khanh Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots

scholarly journals Can a humanoid social robot stimulate the interactivity of cognitively impaired elderly? A thorough study based on computer vision methods

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gauri Tulsulkar ◽  
Nidhi Mishra ◽  
Nadia Magnenat Thalmann ◽  
Hwee Er Lim ◽  
Mei Ping Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computer Vision ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Assistive Robotics ◽  
Cognitively Impaired ◽  
Assistive Robots ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Human Need

AbstractSocial Assistive Robotics is increasingly being used in care settings to provide psychosocial support and interventions for the elderly with cognitive impairments. Most of these social robots have provided timely stimuli to the elderly at home and in care centres, including keeping them active and boosting their mood. However, previous investigations have registered shortcomings in these robots, particularly in their ability to satisfy an essential human need: the need for companionship. Reports show that the elderly tend to lose interests in these social robots after the initial excitement as the novelty wears out and the monotonous familiarity becomes all too familiar. This paper presents our research facilitating conversations between a social humanoid robot, Nadine, and cognitively impaired elderly at a nursing home. We analysed the effectiveness of human–humanoid interactions between our robot and 14 elderly over 29 sessions. We used both objective tools (based on computer vision methods) and subjective tools (based on observational scales) to evaluate the recorded videos. Our findings showed that our subjects engaged positively with Nadine, suggesting that their interaction with the robot could improve their well-being by compensating for some of their emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial deficiencies. We detected emotions associated with cognitively impaired elderly during these interactions. This study could help understand the expectations of the elderly and the current limitations of Social Assistive Robots. Our research is aligned with all the ethical recommendations by the NTU Institutional Review Board.

scholarly journals Use of Social Robots in Mental Health and Well-Being Research: Systematic Review

10.2196/13322 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. e13322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arielle AJ Scoglio ◽  
Erin D Reilly ◽  
Jay A Gorman ◽  
Charles E Drebing
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Health And Well Being

scholarly journals Self-Disclosure to a Robot: Only for Those Who Suffer the Most

Robotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Yunfei (Euphie) Duan ◽  
Myung (Ji) Yoon ◽  
Zhixuan (Edison) Liang ◽  
Johan Ferdinand Hoorn
Keyword(s):  
Mood Induction ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Social Robot ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Video Footage ◽  
Emotion Theory

Social robots may become an innovative means to improve the well-being of individuals. Earlier research has shown that people easily self-disclose to a social robot, even in cases where it was unintended by the designers. We report on an experiment considering self-disclosing in a diary journal or to a social robot after negative mood induction. An off-the-shelf robot was complemented with our in-house developed AI chatbot, which could talk about ‘hot topics’ after training it with thousands of entries on a complaint website. We found that people who felt strongly negative after being exposed to shocking video footage benefited the most from talking to our robot, rather than writing down their feelings. For people less affected by the treatment, a confidential robot chat or writing a journal page did not differ significantly. We discuss emotion theory in relation to robotics and possibilities for an application in design (the emoji-enriched ‘talking stress ball’). We also underline the importance of otherwise disregarded outliers in a data set of therapeutic nature.

scholarly journals Social robots and digital well-being: how to design future artificial agents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Dennis
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Artificial Agents ◽  
Value Sensitive Design ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Range Of Values

AbstractValue-sensitive design theorists propose that a range of values that should inform how future social robots are engineered. This article explores a new value: digital well-being, and proposes that the next generation of social robots should be designed to facilitate this value in those who use or come into contact with these machines. To do this, I explore how the morphology of social robots is closely connected to digital well-being. I argue that a key decision is whether social robots are designed as embodied or disembodied. After exploring the merits of both approaches, I conclude that, on balance, there are persuasive reasons why disembodied social robots may well fare better with respect to the value of digital well-being.

scholarly journals Impacts of Low-cost Robotic Pets for Older Adults and People With Dementia: Scoping Review

10.2196/25340 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e25340
Author(s):  
Wei Qi Koh ◽  
Faith Xin Hui Ang ◽  
Dympna Casey
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Live Animal ◽  
People With Dementia

Background Older adults and people with dementia are particularly vulnerable to social isolation. Social robots, including robotic pets, are promising technological interventions that can benefit the psychosocial health of older adults and people with dementia. However, issues such as high costs can lead to a lack of equal access and concerns about infection control. Although there are previous reviews on the use of robotic pets for older adults and people with dementia, none have included or had a focus on low-cost and familiarly and realistically designed pet robots. Objective The aim of this review is to synthesize evidence on the delivery and impact of low-cost, familiarly and realistically designed interactive robotic pets for older adults and people with dementia. Methods The Arksey and O’Malley framework was used to guide this review. First, the research question was identified. Second, searches were conducted on five electronic databases and Google Scholar. Studies were selected using a two-phase screening process, where two reviewers independently screened and extracted data using a standardized data extraction form. Finally, the results were discussed, categorized, and presented narratively. Results A total of 9 studies were included in the review. Positive impacts related to several psychosocial domains, including mood and affect, communication and social interaction, companionship, and other well-being outcomes. Issues and concerns associated with its use included misperceptions of the robotic pets as a live animal, ethical issues of attachment, negative reactions by users, and other pragmatic concerns such as hygiene and cost. Conclusions Overall, the findings resonate with previous studies that investigated the effectiveness of other social robots, demonstrating the promise of these low-cost robotic pets in addressing the psychosocial needs of older adults and people with dementia. The affordability of these robotic pets appeared to influence the practicalities of real-world use, such as intervention delivery and infection control, which are especially relevant in light of COVID-19. Moving forward, studies should also consider comparing the effects of these low-cost robots with other robotic pets.

scholarly journals Personal Resilience Can Be Well Estimated from Heart Rate Variability and Paralinguistic Features during Human–Robot Conversations

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 5844
Author(s):  
Shin-Min Hsu ◽  
Sue-Huei Chen ◽  
Tsung-Ren Huang
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Speech Signals ◽  
Emotion Coaching ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Personal Resilience

Mental health is as crucial as physical health, but it is underappreciated by mainstream biomedical research and the public. Compared to the use of AI or robots in physical healthcare, the use of AI or robots in mental healthcare is much more limited in number and scope. To date, psychological resilience—the ability to cope with a crisis and quickly return to the pre-crisis state—has been identified as an important predictor of psychological well-being but has not been commonly considered by AI systems (e.g., smart wearable devices) or social robots to personalize services such as emotion coaching. To address the dearth of investigations, the present study explores the possibility of estimating personal resilience using physiological and speech signals measured during human–robot conversations. Specifically, the physiological and speech signals of 32 research participants were recorded while the participants answered a humanoid social robot’s questions about their positive and negative memories about three periods of their lives. The results from machine learning models showed that heart rate variability and paralinguistic features were the overall best predictors of personal resilience. Such predictability of personal resilience can be leveraged by AI and social robots to improve user understanding and has great potential for various mental healthcare applications in the future.

Impacts of low-cost robotic pets for older adults and people with dementia: A scoping review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Qi Koh ◽  
Faith Xin Hui Ang ◽  
Dympna Casey
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Live Animal ◽  
People With Dementia

BACKGROUND Older adults and people with dementia are particularly vulnerable to social isolation. Social robots, including robotic pets, are promising technological interventions that can benefit the psychosocial health of older adults and people with dementia. However, issues such as high costs can lead to a lack of equal access and concerns about infection control. Although there are previous reviews on the use of robotic pets for older adults and people with dementia, none have included or had a focus on low-cost, familiarly and realistically designed pet robots. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to synthesise evidence on the delivery and impact of low-cost, familiarly and realistically designed interactive robotic pets for older adults and people with dementia. METHODS The Arksey and O’Malley framework was used to guide this review. First, the research question was identified. Next, searches were conducted on five electronic databases and Google Scholar. Studies were selected using a two-phase screening process, where two reviewers independently screened and extracted data using a standardized data extraction form. Finally, the results were discussed, categorised and presented narratively. RESULTS A total of nine studies were included in the review. Positive impacts related to several psychosocial domains, including mood and affect, communication and social interaction, companionship, and other well-being outcomes. Issues and concerns associated with its use included misperceptions of the robotic pets as a live animal, ethical issues of attachment, negative reactions by users, and other pragmatic concerns such as hygiene and cost. CONCLUSIONS Overall, findings resonate with previous studies that investigated the effectiveness of other social robots, demonstrating the promise of these low-cost robotic pets in addressing the psychosocial needs of older adults and people with dementia. The affordability of these robotic pets appeared to influence the practicalities of real-world use, such as intervention delivery and infection control, which are especially relevant in light of COVID-19. Moving forward, studies should also consider comparing the effects of these low-cost robots with other robotic pets. CLINICALTRIAL

scholarly journals Robotic transformative service research: deploying social robots for consumer well-being during COVID-19 and beyond

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1131-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Henkel ◽  
Martina Čaić ◽  
Marah Blaurock ◽  
Mehmet Okan
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robotics ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Vulnerable Consumers

PurposeBesides the direct physical health consequences, through social isolation COVID-19 affects a considerably larger share of consumers with deleterious effects for their psychological well-being. Two vulnerable consumer groups are particularly affected: older adults and children. The purpose of the underlying paper is to take a transformative research perspective on how social robots can be deployed for advancing the well-being of these vulnerable consumers and to spur robotic transformative service research (RTSR).Design/methodology/approachThis paper follows a conceptual approach that integrates findings from various domains: service research, social robotics, social psychology and medicine.FindingsTwo key findings advanced in this paper are (1) a typology of robotic transformative service (i.e. entertainer, social enabler, mentor and friend) as a function of consumers' state of social isolation, well-being focus and robot capabilities and (2) a future research agenda for RTSR.Practical implicationsThis paper guides service consumers and providers and robot developers in identifying and developing the most appropriate social robot type for advancing the well-being of vulnerable consumers in social isolation.Originality/valueThis study is the first to integrate social robotics and transformative service research by developing a typology of social robots as a guiding framework for assessing the status quo of transformative robotic service on the basis of which it advances a future research agenda for RTSR. It further complements the underdeveloped body of service research with a focus on eudaimonic consumer well-being.

Older adult interaction with social robots: implications for socio-emotional well-being

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (s) ◽  
pp. 121-121
Author(s):  
E. Harrington ◽  
H.M. Do ◽  
G. McCall ◽  
H. Boevers ◽  
A.J. Bishop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adult ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots

scholarly journals Self-Disclosure to a Robot: Only for Those Who Suffer the Most

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euphie Y. Duan ◽  
Ji M. Yoon ◽  
Edison Z. Liang ◽  
Johan F. Hoorn
Keyword(s):  
Mood Induction ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Robots ◽  
Social Robot ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Video Footage ◽  
Emotion Theory

Social robots may become an innovative means to improve the well-being of individuals. Earlier research showed that people easily self-disclose to a social robot even in cases where that was unintended by the designers. We report on an experiment of self-disclosing in a diary journal or to a social robot after negative mood induction. The off-the-shelf robot was complemented with our inhouse developed AI chatbot and could talk about ‘hot topics’ after having it trained with thousands of entries on a complaint website. We found that people who felt strong negativity after being exposed to shocking video footage benefited the most from talking to our robot rather than writing down their feelings. For people less affected by the treatment, a confidential robot chat or writing a journal page did not differ significantly. We discuss emotion theory in relation to robotics and possibilities for an application in design (the emoji-enriched ‘talking stress ball’). We also underline the importance of - otherwise disregarded - outliers in a data set that is of a therapeutic nature.

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