International Journal of Human-Computer Studies ( IF 5.4 ) Pub Date : 2016-12-18 , DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.12.004 Sean A McGlynn 1, 1 , Shawn Kemple 1 , Tracy L Mitzner 1 , Chih-Hung Aaron King 2 , Wendy A Rogers 1
As the population ages, there is an increasing need for socio-emotional support for older adults. A potential way to meet this need is through interacting with pet-type robots such as the seal robot, PARO. There was a need to extend research on PARO's potential benefits beyond cognitively impaired and dependently living older adults. Because independently living, cognitively intact older adults may also have socio-emotional needs, the primary goal of this study was to investigate their attitudes, emotions, and engagement with PARO to identify its potential applicability to this demographic. Thirty older adults participated in an interaction period with PARO, and their attitudes and emotions toward PARO were assessed before and after using a multi-method approach. Video of the interaction was coded to determine the types and frequency of engagements participants initiated with PARO. Overall, there were no pre-post interaction differences on these measures. However, semi-structured interviews suggested that these older adults had positive attitudes towards PARO's attributes, thought it would be easy to use, and perceived potential uses for both themselves and others. Participants varied in their frequency of engagement with PARO. A novel finding is that this active engagement frequency uniquely predicted post-interaction period positive affect. This study advances understanding of healthy older adults’ attitudes, emotions, and engagement with PARO and of possible ways in which PARO could provide social and emotional support to healthy older adults. The results are informative for future research and design of pet-type robots.
中文翻译:
了解健康老年人的PARO潜力。
随着人口老龄化,越来越需要老年人提供社会情感支持。满足此需求的一种潜在方法是与宠物机器人(如印章机器人PARO)进行交互。有必要将对PARO的潜在益处的研究范围扩大到认知障碍和依赖生活的老年人之外。由于独立生活,认知完好的老年人也可能有社会情感需求,因此本研究的主要目标是调查他们的态度,情感和与PARO的接触,以识别其对这一人群的潜在适用性。30名老年人参加了与PARO的互动期,在使用多方法方法之前和之后,评估了他们对PARO的态度和情感。对互动视频进行编码,以确定参与PARO的参与者的类型和频率。总体而言,这些措施在互动前后没有差异。但是,半结构化访谈表明,这些老年人对PARO的属性持积极态度,认为它易于使用,并且可以感知自己和他人的潜在用途。参与者参与PARO的频率各不相同。一个新颖的发现是,这种活跃的参与频率独特地预测了互动后时期的积极影响。这项研究提高了对健康的老年人的态度,情感和与PARO的接触的了解,并增进了PARO可以为健康的老年人提供社会和情感支持的可能方式。