Assistive technology design and development for acceptable robotics companions for ageing years

Abstract

A new stream of research and development responds to changes in life expectancy across the world. It includes technologies which enhance well-being of individuals, specifically for older people. The ACCOMPANY project focuses on home companion technologies and issues surrounding technology development for assistive purposes. The project responds to some overlooked aspects of technology design, divided into multiple areas such as empathic and social human-robot interaction, robot learning and memory visualisation, and monitoring persons’ activities at home. To bring these aspects together, a dedicated task is identified to ensure technological integration of these multiple approaches on an existing robotic platform, Care-O-Bot®3 in the context of a smart-home environment utilising a multitude of sensor arrays. Formative and summative evaluation cycles are then used to assess the emerging prototype towards identifying acceptable behaviours and roles for the robot, for example role as a butler or a trainer, while also comparing user requirements to achieved progress. In a novel approach, the project considers ethical concerns and by highlighting principles such as autonomy, independence, enablement, safety and privacy, it embarks on providing a discussion medium where user views on these principles and the existing tension between some of these principles, for example tension between privacy and autonomy over safety, can be captured and considered in design cycles and throughout project developments

A multi-perspective evaluation of a service robot for seniors: the voice of different stakeholders

“…The European Acceptable robotiCs COMPanions for AgeiNg Years (ACCOMPANY) project was a robotic project that aimed to provide services to older adults in an acceptable manner to facilitate independent living at home [8,9]. In this project, a state of the art service robot platform, the Care-O-bot® 3 (Picture 1), was used to assess user requirements throughout the project [10].…”

Engaging older people with participatory design

“…For instance, if the person did not drink for a few hours, the action-possibility "Bring me water" pops up to encourage the person to drink and avoid dehydration. This scenario is allowed thanks to a smart environment with a multi-angle camera fusion system and sensor network providing information about the living patterns of the older person and current states of tangible objects and the environment [1]. Since the GUI was designed for domestic use, there has been an effort to emphasize the experience of living with the robot, focusing on feelings of engagement and empathy, rather than solely on functional aspects.…”

Ethical values and social care robots for older people: an international qualitative study

“…The ACCOMPANY system used the Careobot3 platform, which is mobile and has a manipulating arm, is capable of working autonomously in a smart home environment and ''co-learns'' with its user (Amirabdollahian et al 2013). The target user was a cognitively able older person, living alone, whose physical health and memory were starting to decline, and whose ability to live independently in his or her own home was threatened.…”