Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet

Participatory design includes stakeholders in the development of products intended to solve real-life challenges. Involving end users in the design of robots is vital for developing effective, useful, acceptable and user-friendly products that meet expectations, needs, and preferences. This four-year international project developed and evaluated a home-based robot for mood stabilization and cognitive improvement in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and age-related health needs. The daily-care robot was developed in collaboration with experts, carers, relatives, and older adults, through six phases. Two phases were dedicated to cognitive stimulation games. This paper provides a summary of the participatory design and mixed-methods evaluation processes undertaken to develop, refine, and test the robot. The final robot and games were acceptable to older adults, and useful for delivering stimulating activities and providing reminders for medication, health and wellbeing checks. Personalization is required to optimize human-robot interaction, and imagery and speech should be consistent with local users. Functions should be personalizable to accommodate individual health needs and preferences. This project highlights the importance of participatory design and testing robotics in end-user environments, as technical issues associated with long-term use were uncovered. Recommendations for future development and the design of assistive health robots are made.

An aging global population and preference for aging-in-place pose the opportunity for home-based robots to assist older adults with their daily routines. However, there is limited research into the experiences of older adults using robots in their own homes. In this descriptive qualitative feasibility study, older self-supporting and community-dwelling adults with various age-related health needs used Bomy, a dailycare robot in their homes for up to one week. The study explored the usefulness of the robot and participants’ perceptions and experiences of using it. Bomy reminded them of daily activities and delivered cognitive stimulation games. Semi-structured in-person interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed thematically. Findings revealed an acceptance toward robots and the value of assistive dailycare robots. Participants perceived Bomy as a companion and made suggestions for improvement, including resolving technical issues associated with long-term use. Future functions should be personalizable, to accommodate each user’s health needs and could also include smoke detection and reading aloud functions. Dailycare robots show promising potential in elderly care, especially in providing reminders for medication, health and wellbeing. This study highlights the importance of co-design and testing robotics in the environments for which they have been developed. Widespread implementation of Bomy might be feasible in the future, with some further adjustments.

Social robots are increasingly used within public spaces, including museum settings. This quasi-systematic review identifies and synthesizes the evidence on social robots that have recently been deployed in museum settings. It specifically focuses on their intended purpose, their acceptability and factors important for successful human–robot interaction in this setting. Four databases (PsycINFO, SCOPUS, ACM Digital Library and IEEE Xplore) were systematically searched to retrieve literature published within the last 10 years on human–robot interaction studies with social robots deployed in museum settings. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the studies, qualitative and quantitative findings were summarized. A total of 604 items were identified, of which 12 were included in the review. Robots in 11 studies were physical and 1 was an embodied conversational agent presented as a virtual robot. In 75% of the studies (n = 9), the purpose of the robots was to act as museum guides, while in 17% (n = 2) they entertained visitors and in 8% (n = 1) the robot taught visitors in a museum outreach programme. Overall, many of the robots were found to be acceptable for use within museum settings. Three main themes for successful social human–robot interaction were evident across the findings: (1) facial expressions, (2) movement and (3) communication and speech. There is a great opportunity for social robots to be deployed within museum settings, as guides, educators, entertainers or a combination thereof. State-of-the-art methods have led to the development of museum robots that are more capable of social interaction; however, more work is required to develop speech capabilities that work in the ‘wild’. Future work should combine the factors that have been identified within this review to improve human–robot interaction.