Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
companion robots as agents of an intelligent living environment, aimed at providing
older people with a mix of physical and cognitive support in their everyday life, while
the second one relates more specifically to the investigation of the non-verbal,
emotional and affective component of human-robot interaction.
An interesting research area within cognitive/companion robotics focuses on how
robotic creatures can be used with patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease and
other types of dementia, not only as “emotional activators”, but also as cognitive
stimulators, by fully exploiting their interactivity and their (although limited)
processing capability. Following this approach, after exploring the effectiveness of
using animal-shaped toys for pet-therapy, a group of researchers from Japan
(Yonemitsu, 2002) described the beneficial effects of interaction with the AIBO robotic
dog on older subjects with dementia, with a special focus on the results in terms of
increased communication patterns.
The AIBO robot by Sony has also been used in a recent preliminary study (Odetti,
2007), aimed at a preliminary evaluation on how acceptable robot-mediated pet-therapy
is for older people with light-cognitive deficits (MCI or other kinds of dementia
diseases in early stage).
The Philips iCAT, a programmable stationary robot (available for research
purposes) that can present emotional expressions, has been used to play board games
with a user to keep them mentally active. User's experiences have been very favourable
and pilot users were reluctant to return the device.
The described study involved 24 older subjects with light-cognitive deficit and
allowed gathering some basic preliminary user-centred information, in order to develop
in the near future a new suite of more acceptable relational artefacts.
Some researchers are defining the new concepts of robotic psychology and of
robotherapy, which focus on “interactive stimulation robots” (Libin, 2004), and to
develop new unified assessment tools like the Person-Robot Complex Interaction Scale
(PRCIS).
Cognitive and emotional interaction between older people with cognitive deficits
and animal-shaped robots, such as the PARO robotic baby seal, is also being
investigated at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST) in Japan (Wada, 2008), as well as at the MIT MediaLab, where the Robotic
Life Research Group aims at studying the mechanisms that underlie this human and
animal competence and at developing a science of human-robot collaboration through
multidisciplinary research. In this framework, a Teddy Bear-like companion robot is
being developed to investigate the recognition of affective contents of touch in human-
animaloid interaction (Stiehl, 2006).
2.3.3.
Consolidated view
Roadmap 3.
Personal activity management and monitoring.
Short term (2015)
Mid term (2020)
Long term (2025)
Physical Activity
management systems
Stand-alone devices and
devices connected to
service, isolated
solutions. Mainly in
wellness domain
Enable integration
between different
solutions, forward data
to systems from care
provider organisations
Make data accessible to
cross organisational
care and disease
management systems
Monitoring ADL
Wearable devices also
usable in outdoor
situations.
Unobtrusive monitoring
in-home with proper
privacy solutions
Make data accessible to
cross organisational
care and disease
management systems
