Social service robots to support independent living

Abstract

Reasons for this might be a lack of technological robustness and slow performance of the prototype and also the good health conditions of the users; however, users believed that a market-ready version of the robot would be vital for supporting people who are more fragile and more socially isolated. Thus, SSRs have the potential to support independent living of older people although the technology has to be considerably improved to reach market readiness.

Social Acceptance of Robots in Different Occupational Fields: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Social & health care BY RESPONDENT GROUP: + Robots are accepted in work tasks related to hospital by general public [17]. Patients accepted robots in reflexology [27] and brain injury rehabilitation [8], and professionals in surgery [41, 90] -Professionals [8,51] and elderly respondents [6] questioned the necessity and feasibility of robots in social and health care fields -Robots were not well accepted by care professionals [78,93] or as a robot bathtub by the elderly respondents [6] AS EQUIPMENT OR AS A WORKER: + Robots were accepted as substitutes for tools or equipment [2,76,69] and coworkers [90], and even referred to as a social actor or a citizen [ -Robots were perceived more as toys or entertainment than as sources of security by elderly respondents [19,71] HEALTH OUTCOMES: + Robots were perceived as having a positive effect on patients in physiotherapy and rehabilitation [22,[31][32]34], and physiotherapists accepted their use in clinics and homes [53] BY ROBOT TYPE: + Telepresence robots were perceived as having positive effects on patient care [60,75] and communication [63,79] and ranked at least as desirable as telephones [7,47] + Assistive robots were well accepted by the elderly people [19,39,46,52,71], robot bathtubs by professionals [6] excessive control, hacking of the systems, and unemployment [12] Education + Robots are accepted in work tasks related to education [17] + Attitudes toward educational robots were neutral and robots could be imagined in subjects such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [74] -Respondents were reluctant to participate in teaching provided by a robot and could not imagine a robot in subjects such as social sciences or art…”

“…Research in elderly care reveals that the attitudes of elderly towards robots are more often positive than negative [19,34,39,46,52,71]. Robots may also have entertainment value [31], with the risk of being regarded as toys rather than a reliable provider of care [19,71]. Professional care workers are generally not as convinced as the elderly.…”

Case Report: Implications of Doing Research on Socially Assistive Robots in Real Homes

“…Robot actions and interactions may be understood and explained from a technical viewpoint but if its users do not understand the robot's actions, a level of uncertainty and insecurity arise and affect the natural and frequent usage of the robot. This also affects the evaluation and the results [49]. Several of the participants stated that given the uncertainty and unreliability of the robot's actions and interactions, they could not seamlessly integrate it into their everyday life.…”

Pflegeroboter aus Sicht der Geriatrie

“…Die Einsatzzeit pro Nutzer umfasste mindestens 3 Wochen, womit wir über Erfahrungen des Langzeiteinsatzes von HOBBIT in Privathaushalten über rund 5 Monate verfügen. Fünf der Teilnehmer hatten in den vorangegangenen zwei Jahren mäßige bis schwerere Mobilitätsprobleme, zwei hatten bereits davor Stürze zu Hause, bei denen Fremdhilfe notwendig geworden war (Pripfl 2016). Die Evaluation erfolgte Abb.…”

“…Die Frage ist nicht, ob, sondern wie genau und wann "intelligente", "autonome" technische Systeme bei der Unterstützung von Menschen mit erhöhtem Risiko von oder bereits tatsächlich eingetretener Pflegebedürftigkeit eine wichtige Rolle spielen werden (Gisinger et al 2016). Die Vorstellung, dass ein dann als "Pflegeroboter" bezeichnetes System genau die Tätigkeit einer Pflegeperson abbildet, erscheint jedoch genauso naiv wie die Vorstellung, dass im Haushalt statt einer Geschirrspülmaschine ein anthropomorpher Roboter mit zwei Händen in einem Spülbecken schmutziges Geschirr abwäscht.…”