Field-based development of an information support robot for persons with dementia

Abstract

Background: The use of robots for providing support to persons with dementia is very promising. However, it is difficult to develop a truly useful robot system because of the difficulty of clarifying their needs and opinions. Objective: Because a field-based method is effective for the development of these kinds of systems, in this study, we developed a prototype of an information support robot for persons with dementia, using field-based methodology. Methods: A communication robot system produced by NEC Corporation, called "PaPeRo", was chosen as the platform for this system. To achieve the goal of keeping persons with dementia informed of their daily schedule and prompting them to take desired actions, interactive verbal communication algorithms were programmed into the robot system. Results: The results of experiments with five dementia sufferers showed that this system produced an information acquisition rate of over 90%. In addition, a life support demonstration showed the possibility of prompting users to perform actions. Conclusions: These results suggest the possibility of using this robot to support independent living by persons with dementia, and also the effectiveness of the field-based method.

Care Personnel's Attitudes and Fears Toward Care Robots in Elderly Care: A Comparison of Data from the Care Personnel in Finland and Japan

“…However, Finnish care personnel did not seem as convinced that a care robot could help elderly people move from their bed or ease their anxiety or loneliness. Both the Finnish and Japanese care personnel felt that a care robot could help elderly people in different tasks, such as reminding them about certain things, guiding them in exercises, and promoting their safety, and this corresponds with the findings of previous studies (Aloulou et al., ; Inoue et al., ).…”

The adoption of care robots in home care—A survey on the attitudes of Finnish home care personnel

“…Second, to promote independent living, the older people need help with practical home care (Bedaf et al., ; Horihata, Iwahara, & Yano, ; Shiomi, Iio, Kamei, Sharma, & Hagita, ). This may also involve older people with cognitive impairment who need assistance in, for example, finding their belongings (Wu et al., ) and being reminded about things (Granata et al., ; Inoue et al., ). This study separately examines attitudes to robots that address the promotion of safety and practical home care, as well as the provision of guidance and reminders.…”

Robotic Telemedicine for Mental Health: A Multimodal Approach to Improve Human-Robot Engagement

“…Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a range of tools from simple voice interfaces to interactive social robots have been introduced with the aim of providing stimulation, entertainment, personal assistance, monitoring and safety for older adults and PwD ( Inoue et al, 2012 ; Martín et al, 2013 ; Mordoch et al, 2013 ; Joranson et al, 2015 ; Moyle et al, 2017 ; Falck et al, 2020 ); see ( Abdi et al, 2018 ) for a recent review. Exemplary cases such as the humanoid robot NAO ( Agüera-Ortiz et al, 2015 ), PaPeRo ( Inoue et al, 2012 ), Bandit ( Tapus et al, 2009 ), Eva ( Cruz-Sandoval and Favela, 2016 ), and robot alternatives to animal assisted therapy such as AIBO, the robotic dog ( Tamura et al, 2004 ), NeCoRo, the robotic cat ( Libin and Cohen-Mansfield, 2004 ), and the well-known Paro, the robotic seal ( Wada and Shibata, 2007 ) have shown the possibility of improving patient engagement, reducing agitation, improving mood and communication, and decreasing stress ( Inoue et al, 2011 ; Petersen et al, 2017 ), though comparable results have been argued with a simple stuffed animal ( Moyle et al, 2017 ). Recent literature ( Martín et al, 2013 ; Valenti Soler et al, 2015 ; Rouaix et al, 2017 ) has argued social robots can help improve irritability, global neuropsychiatric symptoms, and PwD’s emotional responses with robot assisted therapies.…”