Comfort and Attitudes Towards Robots Among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Paediatric nurses' perspectives on artificial intelligence applications: A cross-sectional study of concerns, literacy levels and attitudes

AIMS

This study aimed to explore the correlation between artificial intelligence (AI) literacy, AI anxiety and AI attitudes among paediatric nurses, as well as identify the influencing factors on paediatric nurses' AI attitudes.

DESIGN

A descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional research.

METHODS

This study was conducted between January and February 2024 with 170 nurses actively working in paediatric clinics in Turkey. The data collection tools included the Nurse Information Form, the General Attitudes Towards Artificial Intelligence Scale (GAAIS), the Artificial Intelligence Literacy Scale (AILS) and the Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale (AIAS). To determine the associations between the variables, the data was analysed using IBM SPSS 28, which included linear regression and Pearson correlation analysis.

RESULTS

The study indicated significant positive correlations between paediatric nurses' age and their AIAS scores (r = .226; p < .01) and significant negative correlations between paediatric nurses' age and their AILS (r = -.192; p < .05) and GAAIS scores (r = -.152; p < .05). The GAAIS was significantly predictive (p < .000) and accounted for 50% of the variation in AIAS and AILS scores.

CONCLUSION

Paediatric nurses' attitudes towards AI significantly predicted AI literacy and AI anxiety. The relationship between the age of the paediatric nurses and the anxiety, AI literacy and attitudes towards AI was demonstrated. Healthcare and educational institutions should create customized training programs and awareness-raising activities for older nurses, as there are noticeable variations in the attitudes of paediatric nurses towards AI based on their age.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE

Providing in-service AI training can help healthcare organizations improve paediatric nurses' attitudes towards AI, increase their AI literacy and reduce their anxiety. This training has the potential to impact their attitudes positively and reduce their anxiety.

REPORTING METHOD

The study results were critically reported using STROBE criteria.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public contribution.

Closing the loop in minimally supervised human-robot interaction: formative and summative feedback

Human instructors fluidly communicate with hand gestures, head and body movements, and facial expressions, but robots rarely leverage these complementary cues. A minimally supervised social robot with such skills could help people exercise and learn new activities. Thus, we investigated how nonverbal feedback from a humanoid robot affects human behavior. Inspired by the education literature, we evaluated formative feedback (real-time corrections) and summative feedback (post-task scores) for three distinct tasks: positioning in the room, mimicking the robot's arm pose, and contacting the robot's hands. Twenty-eight adults completed seventy-five 30-s-long trials with no explicit instructions or experimenter help. Motion-capture data analysis shows that both formative and summative feedback from the robot significantly aided user performance. Additionally, formative feedback improved task understanding. These results show the power of nonverbal cues based on human movement and the utility of viewing feedback through formative and summative lenses.

Association between physical activity and health-related quality of life among adults in China: the moderating role of age

Objective

The aim of the study was to examine the association between physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among adults and explore the role of age in the association between PA and HRQOL in Shandong, China.

Methods

We investigated the relationship between PA and HRQOL and examined the moderated role of age in this association among adults with different age groups and physical activity levels. Data were obtained from the sixth China National Health Services Survey conducted in Shandong province in 2018. The multi-stage-stratified cluster random sampling method was used to selected respondents, with individuals aged 18 and above included in the present study. The tool of assessing HRQOL was the three-level EuroQol Five Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L).

Results

The study found PA was significantly related to HRQOL (P < 0.05). The interaction analysis indicated that the relationship between PA and HRQOL was significantly different across young, middle-aged, and older adults (P < 0.05). Older adults with the sufficient PA (coefficient = 0.090, 95%CI: [0.081, 0.100]) and active PA (coefficient = 0.057, 95%CI: [0.043, 0.072]) had significantly higher HRQOL compared with young and middle-aged groups.

Conclusion

PA was positively associated with HRQOL among the adults. Age played a moderate role between the association between PA and HRQOL. Guidelines for PA should be specifically tailored to adults of different age groups in order to enhance their HRQoL.

Technology Acceptance of Socially Assistive Robots Among Older Adults and the Factors Influencing It: A Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this study was to deeply understand older adults' acceptance of socially assistive robots and their influencing factors and to compare the strength of the correlation between each influencing factor variable and the acceptance. The literature search was performed in five databases from their inception to January 17, 2023. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 16.0 software. Thirteen papers were included in this study. The mean value of acceptability after using the inverse variance method was 3.68. Education level is strongly related to technology acceptance; perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, technology experience, technology attitude, perceived hedonism, and convenience are moderately related; anxiety is only weakly related.

Acceptance of social assistant robots for the older adults living in the community in China

BACKGROUND

Social assistant robots (SARs) are an important part of providing high quality health and social care for older people, and are an effective measure to promote the development of smart aging. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that influence the acceptance of assistive robots by older adults.

PURPOSE

To investigate the acceptance of SARs for older adults living in the community and explore its influencing factors.

METHODS

207 elderly was invited to answer a questionnaire after watching a SAR video and discussing it. Participants' characteristics, physical health status, general self-efficacy, personality trait and acceptance toward SARs were recorded and analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

showed that the degree of acceptance among older adults living in the community was moderate(2.55±0.86), and the acceptance rate was 51.0%. Whether to use mobile devices(smartphones, computers, robots), the experience of using mobile service devices, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, perceived ease of use and attitude were the main affecting factors (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The elderly Chinese in the community have a low acceptance of SARs. The higher the perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived ease of use, the more positive attitude to using. The elderly who has the experience of using mobile service devices have a higher acceptance of SARs.

Analysis of the clinical characteristics of adult patients with hangman's fractures: A retrospective study based on multicenter clinical data

Background

There are few reports on the clinical characteristics of adult patients with hangman's fractures.

Methods

The clinical data of adult patients were collected from the hangman's fracture database of 7 medical centers. Data on patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were retrospectively analyzed. Data, including gender, age, mechanism of injury, fracture classification, and treatment, were statistically analyzed.

Results

A total of 216 eligible patients (160 males and 56 females, with a mean age of 49.7 years) were selected. There was no statistically significant difference in gender distribution of different age groups. The male-to-female ratio was similar in the young group (18–44 years) and the middle-aged group (45–64 years) (both about 3:1) but decreased in the elderly group (65 years and above) (about 2:1). Overall, high-energy injury was the main mechanism of injury. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of patients with high-energy injury in various age groups (the highest in the young group, and the lowest in the elderly group). Overall, unstable fracture was the main fracture type, with a higher proportion in the young and elderly groups than that in the middle-aged group, but there was no statistically significant difference. From the perspective of treatment options, the percentage of patients receiving surgery was higher in the young and elderly groups than that in the middle-aged group.

Conclusion

Hangman's fracture is predominant in males of all age groups, with high-energy injury as the main mechanism of injury. Unstable fracture is common fracture type. The percentage of patients receiving surgery in the young and elderly groups is higher than that in the middle-aged group, which may be correlated with the high incidence of unstable fracture and the life characteristics of the patients in the young and elderly age groups.

Heterogeneity of Attitudes toward Robots in Healthcare among the Chinese Public: A Latent Profile Analysis

Attitudes are deemed critical psychological variables that can determine end users' acceptance and adoption of robots. This study explored the heterogeneity of the Chinese public's attitudes toward robots in healthcare and examined demographic characteristics associated with the derived profile membership. The data were collected from a sample of 428 Chinese who participated in an online survey. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct subgroups regarding attitudes toward robots-optimistic (36.9%), neutral (47.2%), and ambivalent (15.9%). Interestingly, although participants in the ambivalent attitude profile held more negative attitudes toward interaction with or social influence of healthcare robots, their attitudes tended to be positive when it came to emotional interactions with healthcare robots. All the respondents reported negative attitudes toward the social influence of healthcare robots. Multivariable regression analysis results showed that there were significant differences in age, education level, monthly income, experience with computers, experience with wearable devices, and whether to follow robot-related news or not. This study confirmed the heterogeneity of the Chinese public's attitudes toward robots in healthcare and highlighted the importance of emotional interaction with and social influence of healthcare robots, which might facilitate a better understanding of the needs and expectations of potential end users for robots in healthcare to make them more acceptable in different situations.

Extended Interviews with Stroke Patients Over a Long-Term Rehabilitation Using Human–Robot or Human–Computer Interactions

Socially assistive robots (SARs) have been proposed to assist post-stroke patients in performing their exercise during their rehabilitation process, with the trust in the robot identified as an important factor in human–robot interaction. In the current study, we aimed to identify and characterize factors that influence post-stroke patients’ trust in a robot-operated and a computer-operated rehabilitation platform during and after a long-term experience with the platform. We conducted 29 interviews with 16 stroke patients who underwent a long-term rehabilitation process, assisted by either a SAR or a computer interface. The intervention lasted 5–7 weeks per patient, for a total of 229 sessions over 18 months. By using a qualitative research method—extended interviews “in the wild” with stroke patients, over a long-term rehabilitation process—our study reveals users’ perspectives regarding factors affecting trust in the SAR or in the computer interface during their rehabilitation process. The results support the assertion that SARs have an added value in the rehabilitative care of stroke patients; It appears that personal characteristics, such as age and gender, have an effect on the users’ acceptance of a non-human operator as a practice assistant. Our findings support the notion that SARs augment rehabilitative therapies beyond a standard computer; Importantly, patients appreciated different aspects of the non-human operator in the two groups: In the SAR group, users preferred its functional performance over its anthropomorphized social skills; In the Computer group, users highlighted its contribution to the training of their memory skills.

Politeness in Human–Robot Interaction: A Multi-Experiment Study with Non-Humanoid Robots

We studied politeness in human–robot interaction based on Lakoff’s politeness theory. In a series of eight studies, we manipulated three different levels of politeness of non-humanoid robots and evaluated their effects. A table-setting task was developed for two different types of robots (a robotic manipulator and a mobile robot). The studies included two different populations (old and young adults) and were conducted in two conditions (video and live). Results revealed that polite robot behavior positively affected users' perceptions of the interaction with the robots and that participants were able to differentiate between the designed politeness levels. Participants reported higher levels of enjoyment, satisfaction, and trust when they interacted with the politest behavior of the robot. A smaller number of young adults trusted the politest behavior of the robot compared to old adults. Enjoyment and trust of the interaction with the robot were higher when study participants were subjected to the live condition compared to video and participants were more satisfied when they interacted with a mobile robot compared to a manipulator.

The overlapping modular organization of human brain functional networks across the adult lifespan

Previous studies have demonstrated that the brain functional modular organization, which is a fundamental feature of the human brain, would change along the adult lifespan. However, these studies assumed that each brain region belonged to a single functional module, although there has been convergent evidence supporting the existence of overlap among functional modules in the human brain. To reveal how age affects the overlapping functional modular organization, this study applied an overlapping module detection algorithm that requires no prior knowledge to the resting-state fMRI data of a healthy cohort (N = 570) aged from 18 to 88 years old. A series of measures were derived to delineate the characteristics of the overlapping modular structure and the set of overlapping nodes (brain regions participating in two or more modules) identified from each participant. Age-related regression analyses on these measures found linearly decreasing trends in the overlapping modularity and the modular similarity. The number of overlapping nodes was found increasing with age, but the increment was not even over the brain. In addition, across the adult lifespan and within each age group, the nodal overlapping probability consistently had positive correlations with both functional gradient and flexibility. Further, by correlation and mediation analyses, we showed that the influence of age on memory-related cognitive performance might be explained by the change in the overlapping functional modular organization. Together, our results revealed age-related decreased segregation from the brain functional overlapping modular organization perspective, which could provide new insight into the adult lifespan changes in brain function and the influence of such changes on cognitive performance.

No thank you to humanized robots: attitudes to care robots in elder care services

The growing older population will increase the demands on the health and welfare systems, including elder care services. One way of meeting these growing service needs is to shift from traditional care services to technologically oriented services. Robotic innovations are gradually being introduced to elder care services. The aim was to explore attitudes toward the use of care robots in elder care services - specifically focusing on situations and interaction, influence, and emotions in interaction with care robots. Data were obtained from visitors at a welfare technology fair (n = 124). The results show that the most negative attitudes concerned if the care robots were humanized and had emotions. The attitudes toward interacting with care robots in general were predominately positive. In conclusion, concrete usage scenarios in elder care services need to be detected, based both on users' needs, digital literacy and on the maturity of the technology itself.

Step Aside! VR-Based Evaluation of Adaptive Robot Conflict Resolution Strategies for Domestic Service Robots

As domestic service robots become more prevalent and act autonomously, conflicts of interest between humans and robots become more likely. Hereby, the robot shall be able to negotiate with humans effectively and appropriately to fulfill its tasks. One promising approach could be the imitation of human conflict resolution behaviour and the use of persuasive requests. The presented study complements previous work by investigating combinations of assertive and polite request elements (appeal, showing benefit, command), which have been found to be effective in HRI. The conflict resolution strategies each contained two types of requests, the order of which was varied to either mimic or contradict human conflict resolution behaviour. The strategies were also adapted to the users’ compliance behaviour. If the participant complied after the first request, no second request was issued. In a virtual reality experiment ($$N = 57$$ N = 57 ) with two trials, six different strategies were evaluated regarding user compliance, robot acceptance, trust, and fear and compared to a control condition featuring no request elements. The experiment featured a human-robot goal conflict scenario concerning household tasks at home. The results show that in trial 1, strategies reflecting human politeness and conflict resolution norms were more accepted, polite, and trustworthier than strategies entailing a command. No differences were found for trial 2. Overall, compliance rates were comparable to human-human-requests. Compliance rates did not differ between strategies. The contribution is twofold: presenting an experimental paradigm to investigate a human-robot conflict scenario and providing a first step to developing acceptable robot conflict resolution strategies based on human behaviour.

Robotics in Clinical and Developmental Psychology

Technological advances in robotics over the last 20 years have allowed us to explore the use of robots in different healthcare contexts, in which robots can be deployed as tools for intervention and rehabilitation programs. This chapter intends to analyze, in a lifespan perspective (childhood, adulthood, and elderly age), the potentialities that the use of robots can offer in clinical practices without neglecting the robot's technical constraints and the methodological limitations of the studies. We will provide suggestions for future research and indications for the clinical application of robots according to the different pathologies and ages.

Do People Trust in Robot-Assisted Surgery? Evidence from Europe

(1) Background: The goal of the paper was to establish the factors that influence how people feel about having a medical operation performed on them by a robot. (2) Methods: Data were obtained from a 2017 Flash Eurobarometer (number 460) of the European Commission with 27,901 citizens aged 15 years and over in the 28 countries of the European Union. Logistic regression (odds ratios, OR) to model the predictors of trust in robot-assisted surgery was calculated through motivational factors, using experience and sociodemographic independent variables. (3) Results: The results obtained indicate that, as the experience of using robots increases, the predictive coefficients related to information, attitude, and perception of robots become more negative. Furthermore, sociodemographic variables played an important predictive role. The effect of experience on trust in robots for surgical interventions was greater among men, people between 40 and 54 years old, and those with higher educational levels. (4) Conclusions: The results show that trust in robots goes beyond rational decision-making, since the final decision about whether it should be a robot that performs a complex procedure like a surgical intervention depends almost exclusively on the patient’s wishes.

Views on Using Social Robots in Professional Caregiving: Content Analysis of a Scenario Method Workshop

BACKGROUND

Interest in digital technologies in the health care sector is growing and can be a way to reduce the burden on professional caregivers while helping people to become more independent. Social robots are regarded as a special form of technology that can be usefully applied in professional caregiving with the potential to focus on interpersonal contact. While implementation is progressing slowly, a debate on the concepts and applications of social robots in future care is necessary.

OBJECTIVE

In addition to existing studies with a focus on societal attitudes toward social robots, there is a need to understand the views of professional caregivers and patients. This study used desired future scenarios to collate the perspectives of experts and analyze the significance for developing the place of social robots in care.

METHODS

In February 2020, an expert workshop was held with 88 participants (health professionals and educators; [PhD] students of medicine, health care, professional care, and technology; patient advocates; software developers; government representatives; and research fellows) from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Using the scenario methodology, the possibilities of analog professional care (Analog Care), fully robotic professional care (Robotic Care), teams of robots and professional caregivers (Deep Care), and professional caregivers supported by robots (Smart Care) were discussed. The scenarios were used as a stimulus for the development of ideas about future professional caregiving. The discussion was evaluated using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

The majority of the experts were in favor of care in which people are supported by technology (Deep Care) and developed similar scenarios with a focus on dignity-centeredness. The discussions then focused on the steps necessary for its implementation, highlighting a strong need for the development of eHealth competence in society, a change in the training of professional caregivers, and cross-sectoral concepts. The experts also saw user acceptance as crucial to the use of robotics. This involves the acceptance of both professional caregivers and care recipients.

CONCLUSIONS

The literature review and subsequent workshop revealed how decision-making about the value of social robots depends on personal characteristics related to experience and values. There is therefore a strong need to recognize individual perspectives of care before social robots become an integrated part of care in the future.

The introduction of care robots as a leadership challenge in home care facilities in Finland

Aims

This paper analyses the factors that influence home care employees’ intention to introduce robots.

Background

The introduction of different kinds of care robots is a topical issue in elderly care now and in the near future.

Methods

Cross‐sectional research conducted through a questionnaire. The survey data (N = 162) were collected in five locations around Finland in 2019. The analysis was carried out by regression analysis, Sobel test and by Hayes’ bootstrapping method.

Results

The results show that self‐efficacy is pivotal in the willingness to introduce care robots. Employees’ age increases the enthusiasm to introduce robots but reduces self‐efficacy. Work engagement does not correlate with self‐efficacy or behavioural intention related to the introduction of care robots.

Conclusions

The present paper reveals the significance of attitudes, cognitive factors and age in the adoption of care robots in home care facilities.

Practical implications

It is important to pay attention to supporting the employees’ sense of technology management and the construction of a robot‐positive atmosphere when introducing care robots, and the development of skills of older employees and employees with a lower educational level should be supported.

Older adults' experiences with and perceptions of the use of socially assistive robots in aged care: A systematic review of quantitative evidence

BACKGROUND

Socially assistive robots (SARs) are created to meet challenges of the global increase of older adults. SARs are autonomous embodied technologies, equipped with auditory and visual faculties, enabling them to interact with users while performing assistive roles. Despite studies focusing on older adults' experiences with and perceptions of SARs, it remains unclear what these encompass.

OBJECTIVE

To gain insight into common aspects of older adults' experiences with and perceptions of SAR use in aged care, the relevant quantitative research literature was reviewed and synthesized.

METHODS

Six electronic databases were searched using detailed search strings. Applying pre-specified inclusion and exclusion criteria resulted in 23 articles to be included. Full texts were analyzed thematically, and graphs were developed to facilitate comparisons.

RESULTS

Six main themes related to older adults' experiences with and perceptions of SAR use were identified: (1) general attitudes toward SARs, (2) feelings about SARs, (3) perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of SARs, (4) intention to use SARs, (5) tasks of SARs, (6) SARs' appearances. Ethical issues linked to SARs were barely described in the studies.

CONCLUSION

Older adults are relatively open-minded about SARs, generally feeling comfortable with at least some aspects of them, and intend to use SARs in the future, especially for physical assistive functions. Thus, SARs may meet some of older ones' needs. Although the quantitative evidence contributes to gaining insight in older adults' experiences with and perceptions of SARs, social contextualization is necessary to understand their full meaning.

Predicted Influences of Artificial Intelligence on the Domains of Nursing: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to transform the health system, yet little research to date has explored its influence on nurses-the largest group of health professionals. Furthermore, there has been little discussion on how AI will influence the experience of person-centered compassionate care for patients, families, and caregivers.

OBJECTIVE

This review aims to summarize the extant literature on the emerging trends in health technologies powered by AI and their implications on the following domains of nursing: administration, clinical practice, policy, and research. This review summarizes the findings from 3 research questions, examining how these emerging trends might influence the roles and functions of nurses and compassionate nursing care over the next 10 years and beyond.

METHODS

Using an established scoping review methodology, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central, Education Resources Information Center, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases were searched. In addition to the electronic database searches, a targeted website search was performed to access relevant gray literature. Abstracts and full-text studies were independently screened by 2 reviewers using prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Included articles focused on nursing and digital health technologies that incorporate AI. Data were charted using structured forms and narratively summarized.

RESULTS

A total of 131 articles were retrieved from the scoping review for the 3 research questions that were the focus of this manuscript (118 from database sources and 13 from targeted websites). Emerging AI technologies discussed in the review included predictive analytics, smart homes, virtual health care assistants, and robots. The results indicated that AI has already begun to influence nursing roles, workflows, and the nurse-patient relationship. In general, robots are not viewed as replacements for nurses. There is a consensus that health technologies powered by AI may have the potential to enhance nursing practice. Consequently, nurses must proactively define how person-centered compassionate care will be preserved in the age of AI.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses have a shared responsibility to influence decisions related to the integration of AI into the health system and to ensure that this change is introduced in a way that is ethical and aligns with core nursing values such as compassionate care. Furthermore, nurses must advocate for patient and nursing involvement in all aspects of the design, implementation, and evaluation of these technologies.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.2196/17490.

Association of smoking status and health-related quality of life: difference among young, middle-aged, and older adults in Shandong, China

PURPOSE

Few studies explored the relationship between smoking status and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among adults in China. This study aims to explore the relationship between smoking status and HRQOL among adults (18 +) and examine whether there is a difference in this relationship among young, middle-aged, and older adults in China.

METHODS

A total of 23,021 respondents were included in this study. The HRQOL is measured by EQ-5D-3L. The smoking status is divided into never smokers, current smokers, and former smokers. Tobit regression and Logistic regression are employed to explore the association between smoking status and HRQOL. The interaction term is included to explore the difference among young, middle-aged, and older adults.

RESULTS

This study finds smoking status is significantly associated with HRQOL. An interaction analysis shows that the association between smoking status and HRQOL is significantly different among young, middle-aged, and older adults (P < 0.05). The smoking status is only significantly associated with HRQOL in middle-aged and older adults, but not for young adults. Compared with never smokers, former smokers report significantly lower EQ-5D-3L utility value in middle-aged adults (coefficient =  - 0.089; 95%CI - 0.128 to - 0.050), current smokers report significantly higher EQ-5D-3L utility value in older adults (coefficient = 0.041; 95%CI 0.005 to 0.076).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates a significant association between smoking status and HRQOL among adults in China, and there is a difference in this relationship among young, middle-aged, and older adults. The government should take efforts to formulate a variety of measures to control tobacco use among adults.

Impacts of a Care Robotics Project on Finnish Home Care Workers' Attitudes towards Robots

Technological advances in elderly care have been rapid, and the introduction of robots in care will be a topical issue in the near future. There has been little research into the possibility of influencing care workers’ attitudes towards robots by project activities, and how to make the change easier for work communities. This study focuses on a robotics project that took place in elderly and home care services in one municipality in Finland (total of 45 care workers). During the project, four robotics workshops and one extended pilot session were implemented. The study follows quasi-experimental settings, and it included two measurements (before and after project activities) and a control group, but no randomization. The data were collected by questionnaires and were analyzed statistically. The project under study brought about minor positive changes in home care workers’ attitudes towards the usefulness of care robots. In the final measurement, the difference between the test group and the control group was significant in the two dimensions of positive attitudes. The research supports the hypothesis that project activities can be used to influence home care workers’ attitudes towards robots. This can also facilitate the introduction of care robots in home care services. However, the construction of a technology-positive care culture is a long-term process, which requires training and development, technological development and strong strategic management at various levels.

Technology acceptance and perceptions of robotic assistive devices by older adults - implications for exoskeleton design

AIM

This study explored and interpreted insights expressed by a cohort of older adults related to their life experience, their experiences using or assisting someone with assistive devices, and their perceptions of robots and robotic assistive devices, including lower limb exoskeletons.

METHOD

A grounded theory study was undertaken with 24 older adult participants over five months. Each participant participated in a structured interviewed regarding their experiences with technologies and in particular their perceptions of assistive technologies. Themes from the interviews were coded using Nvivo software.

RESULTS

Five main themes emerged from this study - (1) Aging & life stage experiences, (2) Quality of Life, (3) Assistive Technologies, (4) Health Conditions & Care, (5) Products & Service Systems. These have influenced new constructs for a hybrid design tool that incorporates stages of Usability and TAMs (Technology Acceptance Models) to gauge (a) Perception, (b) Experience and (c) Perceived Impact by older adults of lower limb exoskeletons.

Conclusions: Emerging technologies such as robotic assistive devices require a specific enquiry to understand how best to optimise acceptance by older adults and avoid feelings by them of frustration, embarrassment and ultimately abandonment of these devices.Implications for rehabilitationOlder adults frequently require rehabilitation and assistance with ambulationExoskeletons are forms of assistive technologies for rehabilitation, and they are moving from clinical use to more day care use, including as part of daily livingThese results help explain factors related to the perception of exoskeletons by older adults, which if considered during exoskeleton design, could improve the technology uptake and compliance with this technology use by these users.

Perspectives on usability and accessibility of an autonomous humanoid robot living with elderly people

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to assess how cohabitation with a social robot for seven days night and day is perceived by elderly potential users and to suggest technological improvements for future home integration.

METHODS

Fifteen participants were invited to interact with Pepper^®, 24 h a day and 7 days a week. Perceived utility assessment was achieved using a dedicated questionnaire. Usability assessment was carried out by measuring satisfaction with the human-robot interaction and listing malfunctions.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight tasks out of 115 tasks were reported respectively as very high and high. On day 1, satisfaction was at its higher level with a mean of 6.8. On day 8, it maintained at 6.0 despite technical malfunctions and failures, listed with details in this paper. Acceptability was positive. Pepper was mainly considered as an assistant and a link with family and friends and never as an enemy or intruder. Pepper has proven to be potentially able to meet five needs: making the person's environment safe by alerting contact persons, reminding the user of health-related tasks, enabling "doubt removal", maintaining social relationships and following the user.

CONCLUSIONS

Pepper is more than a "demonstration" device classified as level 6 of the nine-point Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale for the hard and software and level 5 in behavioural terms. Once the technological locks and malfunctions have been overcome, Pepper should be applicable in the home, allowing users to test it in a more familiar environment.Implications for RehabilitationPepper, a humanoid robot, has been perceived as rich in potentialities that can help and secure a fragile person.Following this experience of cohabitation with a humanoid robot, the participants were unanimous in thinking that assistive robotics is the future.To be useful, the robot's people tracking function must inevitably be improved.Pepper, the first humanoid robot ever marketed, is more than just a "demonstration"device, classified at level 6 of Technological Readiness Levels (TRL) for supporting hardware and software and level 5 in terms of behavior.

A Systematic Review of Attitudes, Anxiety, Acceptance, and Trust Towards Social Robots

As social robots become more common, there is a need to understand how people perceive and interact with such technology. This systematic review seeks to estimate people’s attitudes toward, trust in, anxiety associated with, and acceptance of social robots; as well as factors that are associated with these beliefs. Ninety-seven studies were identified with a combined sample of over 13,000 participants and a standardized score was computed for each in order to represent the valence (positive, negative, or neutral) and magnitude (on a scale from 1 to − 1) of people’s beliefs about robots. Potential moderating factors such as the robots’ domain of application and design, the type of exposure to the robot, and the characteristics of potential users were also investigated. The findings suggest that people generally have positive attitudes towards social robots and are willing to interact with them. This finding may challenge some of the existing doubt surrounding the adoption of robotics in social domains of application but more research is needed to fully understand the factors that influence attitudes.

Exercising with Baxter: preliminary support for assistive social-physical human-robot interaction

BACKGROUND

The worldwide population of older adults will soon exceed the capacity of assisted living facilities. Accordingly, we aim to understand whether appropriately designed robots could help older adults stay active at home.

METHODS

Building on related literature as well as guidance from experts in game design, rehabilitation, and physical and occupational therapy, we developed eight human-robot exercise games for the Baxter Research Robot, six of which involve physical human-robot contact. After extensive iteration, these games were tested in an exploratory user study including 20 younger adult and 20 older adult users.

RESULTS

Only socially and physically interactive games fell in the highest ranges for pleasantness, enjoyment, engagement, cognitive challenge, and energy level. Our games successfully spanned three different physical, cognitive, and temporal challenge levels. User trust and confidence in Baxter increased significantly between pre- and post-study assessments. Older adults experienced higher exercise, energy, and engagement levels than younger adults, and women rated the robot more highly than men on several survey questions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that social-physical exercise with a robot is more pleasant, enjoyable, engaging, cognitively challenging, and energetic than similar interactions that lack physical touch. In addition to this main finding, researchers working in similar areas can build on our design practices, our open-source resources, and the age-group and gender differences that we found.

Trust in socially assistive robots: Considerations for use in rehabilitation

Incorporation of social robots into rehabilitation calls for understanding what factors affect user motivation and success of the interaction. Trust between the user and the robot has been identified as important in human-robot interaction and in human-human interactions in therapy. Trust has been studied in the context of automation technology, (e.g., autonomous cars), but not in the context of social robots for rehabilitation. In this narrative review, we address the unique patient-clinician-robot triad, and argue that this context calls for specific design features in order to foster trust with the users. We review pertinent methods for measuring trust, and studies demonstrating that culture, prior experience and propensity-to-trust affect to what extent users trust robots. We suggest design guidelines for fostering trust and methods for measuring trust in human-robot interactions in rehabilitation. We stress the need to create measures of trust that are accessible to people who suffer from speech or cognitive impairments. This review is pertinent to researchers, roboticists, and clinicians interested in designing and using social robots for rehabilitation.