Zafrani Oded, Nimrod Galit, Krakovski Maya, Kumar Shikhar, Bar-Haim Simona, Edan Yael
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Agricultural Biological Cognitive Initiative, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Front Robot AI. 2024 Apr 5;11:1337380. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2024.1337380. eCollection 2024.
By supporting autonomy, aging in place, and wellbeing in later life, Socially Assistive Robots are expected to help humanity face the challenges posed by the rapid aging of the world's population. For the successful acceptance and assimilation of SARs by older adults, it is necessary to understand the factors affecting their Quality Evaluations Previous studies examining Human-Robot Interaction in later life indicated that three aspects shape older adults' overall QEs of robots: uses, constraints, and outcomes. However, studies were usually limited in duration, focused on acceptance rather than assimilation, and typically explored only one aspect of the interaction. In the present study, we examined uses, constraints, and outcomes simultaneously and over a long period. Nineteen community-dwelling older adults aged 75-97 were given a SAR for physical training for 6 weeks. Their experiences were documented via in-depth interviews conducted before and after the study period, short weekly telephone surveys, and reports produced by the robots. Analysis revealed two distinct groups: (A) The 'Fans' - participants who enjoyed using the SAR, attributed added value to it, and experienced a successful assimilation process; and (B) The 'Skeptics' - participants who did not like it, negatively evaluated its use, and experienced a disappointing assimilation process. Despite the vast differences between the groups, both reported more positive evaluations of SARs at the end of the study than before it began. Overall, the results indicated that the process of SARs' assimilation is not homogeneous and provided a profound understanding of the factors shaping older adults' QE of SARs following actual use. Additionally, the findings demonstrated the theoretical and practical usefulness of a holistic approach in researching older SARs users.
通过支持自主性、原地养老和晚年幸福，社交辅助机器人有望帮助人类应对全球人口快速老龄化带来的挑战。为了使老年人成功接受并融入社交辅助机器人，有必要了解影响他们质量评价的因素。以往关于晚年人机交互的研究表明，有三个方面塑造了老年人对机器人的总体质量评价：用途、限制和结果。然而，这些研究通常持续时间有限，侧重于接受而非融入，并且通常只探讨了交互的一个方面。在本研究中，我们同时且长期地考察了用途、限制和结果。19名年龄在75至97岁之间的社区老年人被给予一台社交辅助机器人用于体能训练，为期6周。通过在研究期前后进行的深入访谈、每周一次的简短电话调查以及机器人生成的报告记录了他们的经历。分析揭示了两个不同的群体：（A）“粉丝”——喜欢使用社交辅助机器人并认为其具有附加价值，且经历了成功融入过程的参与者；（B）“怀疑者”——不喜欢该机器人、对其使用进行负面评价且经历了令人失望的融入过程的参与者。尽管两组之间存在巨大差异，但两组在研究结束时对社交辅助机器人的评价都比研究开始前更为积极。总体而言，结果表明社交辅助机器人的融入过程并非同质化的，并且对实际使用后塑造老年人对社交辅助机器人质量评价的因素提供了深刻理解。此外，研究结果证明了整体方法在研究老年社交辅助机器人用户方面的理论和实践价值。
