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Humanoid Robots for Older Adults

Humanoid Robots for Older Adults

Speaker: Fabio Paternò – Pisa, Italy
Topic(s): Human Computer Interaction , Society and the Computing Profession

Abstract

Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older people in their population. Thus, an increasing demand for high-quality support for these adults is likely to be expected in the coming years.

Cognitive training can take many shapes, it typically involves repetitively practising a set of tasks aimed at improving single or multiple cognitive abilities (e.g. memory, attention, executive functions). However, traditional interventions require experienced instructors who may not always be available. Assistive technologies can provide useful support to address this problem. They can help older adults maintain their independence during daily routines, and also represent an important instrument during their rehabilitation. In this perspective, interest in the adoption of robot-based support for providing such training is growing, even if so far it has received limited adoption in current assistance practices because of the lack of specific solutions designed for older adults.

There are many types of robots in terms of shape, functionalities, and interaction abilities. The talk will focus on humanoid robots because of their embodiment. They can employ several different interaction modalities and also detect the surrounding environment. These capabilities are essential to provide more natural, social and emotional robot interactions with humans, and may increase the possibility of providing assistance more effectively. Indeed, the human-like nature of embodied robots can help to create emotional connections with users more easily, which can increase users’ acceptance and willingness to participate in training sessions, particularly in long-term rehabilitation processes. Therefore, humanoid robots promise to provide more engaging social interactions than non-embodied technology.

Since older adults are a very varied category of users in terms of their preferences, interests, and abilities, it seems useful to propose serious games for cognitive training that can be personalised by exploiting facts and memories from their lives, and thus be more relevant for each of them. In the talk, after discussing the motivations and possibilities of humanoid robots for older adults, I will present an approach to personalised serious games for cognitive training with humanoid robots exploiting personal memories and the platform prototype we have designed and developed to support them. I will also discuss the experiences we have had in trials with mild cognitive impairment older adults in collaboration with neuroscientists.

About this Lecture

Number of Slides: 40
Duration: 45 minutes
Languages Available: English, Italian
Last Updated:

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