A Robotic Coach Architecture for Elder Care (ROCARE) Based on Multi-User Engagement Models

• Published in: IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering Vol. 25; no. 8; pp. 1153 - 1163
• Main Authors: Fan, Jing, Bian, Dayi, Zheng, Zhi, Beuscher, Linda, Newhouse, Paul A., Mion, Lorraine C., Sarkar, Nilanjan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.08.2017
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Affective computing; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cognition Disorders - rehabilitation; elder care; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Feasibility Studies; Female; Geriatric Assessment - methods; Graphical user interfaces; Humans; human–robot interaction (HRI); Male; Man-Machine Systems; Medical services; Neurological Rehabilitation - instrumentation; Neurological Rehabilitation - methods; Patient Satisfaction; Physical Therapy Modalities - instrumentation; Pilot Projects; Reproducibility of Results; Robot sensing systems; Robotics - instrumentation; Robotics - methods; Self-Help Devices; Sensitivity and Specificity; Social Support; socially assistive robotics; system architecture; Systems architecture
• ISSN: 1534-4320; 1558-0210
• DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2016.2608791

The aging population with its concomitant medical conditions, physical and cognitive impairments, at a time of strained resources, establishes the urgent need to explore advanced technologies that may enhance function and quality of life. Recently, robotic technology, especially socially assistive robotics has been investigated to address the physical, cognitive, and social needs of older adults. Most system to date have predominantly focused on one-on-one human robot interaction (HRI). In this paper, we present a multi-user engagement-based robotic coach system architecture (ROCARE). ROCARE is capable of administering both one-on-one and multi-user HRI, providing implicit and explicit channels of communication, and individualized activity management for long-term engagement. Two preliminary feasibility studies, a one-on-one interaction and a triadic interaction with two humans and a robot, were conducted and the results indicated potential usefulness and acceptance by older adults, with and without cognitive impairment.