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Rehabilitation care with Pepper humanoid robot: A qualitative case study of older patients with schizophrenia and/or dementia in Japan
Abstract
Humanoid robots are increasingly deployed in various health facilities to complement long-term care in Japan. Although this technology influx is still in its infancy, many health providers are optimistic about its capabilities. Thus, it is crucial to investigate its preliminary utilization and effects as precautionary measures in understanding the use of humanoid technology in healthcare. The study intends to describe the rehabilitation care experience for older patients with schizophrenia and/or dementia in the use of Pepper humanoid robot. A qualitative case study was conducted to explore the rehabilitation recreational activities of older patients with schizophrenia and/or dementia (n = 9) in geriatric health facilities. After securing ethical clearance, observational data were recorded and analyzed using a case-oriented understanding and framework of reaction, interaction, and benefaction. Reaction focuses on their attitudes and impressions toward Pepper. During the rehabilitation and recreational sessions, interaction deals with the relationship between older patients with schizophrenia and/or dementia, Pepper, and providers. Lastly, benefaction reflects the actual health outcome of the reaction and interaction with Pepper. As observed, humanoid robots can elicit simple and individual instructions for simple activities (e.g. exercise) and start the simple conversation (question–answer loop) with its subjects. However, deploying humanoid robots in long-term care requires numerous improvements in robotic technology to elicit an increase in communication and other physical activities, motivation, and a sense of calmness from its clients.
... However, it often requires human moderation, similarly to many other robotic platforms, due to limitations in speech recognition and autonomous movement. Despite these limitations, studies have shown that Pepper can positively impact patient engagement and social interaction in certain settings [17,18]. ...
... Ref. [18] suggested through their study that, while humanoid robots like Pepper could play a valuable role in rehabilitation and recreational activities for individuals with schizophrenia and/or dementia, they were not yet capable of fully replacing human caregivers. Concerns about social robots were also raised in [42]. ...
... Different findings were reported in another study [40], where both groups of participants (care recipients and caregivers) reported a significant reduction in caregiver burden over time, suggesting that assistive technology provision, regardless of caregiver involvement, may have beneficial effects. In [18], it was highlighted that robots can potentially ease the workload of health professionals, but human involvement remains essential for optimal care delivery. Physiotherapists who participated in [42] recognized several benefits of using social robots, including the potential to increase working capacity and facilitate better integration with other professionals. ...
Assistive technologies are becoming an increasingly important aspect of healthcare, particularly for people with physical or cognitive problems. While earlier research has investigated the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI and assistive technologies, many studies have failed to address real-world obstacles such as data privacy, algorithm bias, and regulatory issues. To further understand these issues, we conducted a thorough analysis of the current literature and analyzed real-world case studies. As AI-powered solutions become more widely used, we discovered that stronger legal frameworks and robust data security standards are required. Furthermore, privacy-preserving procedures and transparent accountability are critical for retaining patient trust and guaranteeing the effective use of these technologies in healthcare. This research provides important insights into the ethical and practical challenges that must be tackled for the successful integration of assistive technologies.
... Population aging and technological diffusion are two intersecting transitions currently experienced by the world. More than ever, the increased aging of the population requires technology-driven nursing services (20) to complement the demand for quality health services, especially for older adults with declining health and physical and mental challenges (21,22). For instance, the introduction of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies for health promotion for older people represents an emerging and promising intervention (23). ...
... They have shown effectiveness in many instances (25). The latest innovations in technology-driven HEPA are the utilization of humanoid (humanresembling) technologies (HTs) like physical humanoid robot coaches (HRCs) (22,26). Due to the advent of virtual worlds and mixed reality applications, virtual digital assistants as embodied conversational agents are also emerging (25). ...
... Furthermore, technology-lead interventions have been previously reported to be potentially susceptible to disregard due to usability issues and task quality. As a result, current studies are recommended to focus on the development and evaluation of user-preferred technologies via mixed-method inquiry (25, 38) to understand better how older adults interact with the technology and leverage the technology to meet their needs (22). ...
Background
Physical inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle among community-dwelling older adults poses a greater risk for progressive physical and cognitive decline. Mixed reality technology-driven health enhancing physical activities such as the use of virtual coaches provide an emerging and promising solution to support healthy lifestyle, but the impact has not been clearly understood.
Methods and analysis
An observational explanatory sequential mixed-method research design was conceptualized to examine the potential impact of a user-preferred mixed reality technology-driven health enhancing physical activity program directed toward purposively selected community-dwelling older adults in two senior centers in the Philippines. Quantitative components of the study will be done through a discreet choice experiment and a quasi-experimental study. A total of 128, or 64 older adults in each center, will be recruited via posters at community senior centers who will undergo additional screening or health records review by a certified gerontologist to ensure safety and proper fit. Treatments (live coaching with video-based exercise and mixed reality technology-driven exercise) will be assigned to each of the two senior center sites for the quasi-experiment. The participants from the experimental group shall be involved in the discreet choice experiment, modeling, and usability evaluations. Finally, a qualitative sample of participants (n = 6) as key informants shall be obtained from the experimental group using purposive selection.
Discussion
This study protocol will examine the health impact of a promising mixed reality program in health promotion among older adults. The study utilizes a human-centered mixed method research design in technology development and evaluation in the context of developing nations.
Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT06136468.
... Non-humanoid robots have limited social-engaging capabilities due to their structure and design (Huschilt & Clune, 2012). Recent research has begun to explore the use of humanoid robots to expand potential functionality in caregiving support for persons with cognitive and/or functional impairments (Sato et al., 2020;Zuschnegg et al., 2021). It is estimated that the cost of humanoid robots is approximately $10,000 for the NAO robot and from $22,000 to $35,000 for the Pepper robot; whereas pet robots cost approximately $3,000 (Aibo companion robot) or $6000 (Paro) (Aldebaran United Robotics Group, n.d.; Fracasso et al., 2022) (Figure 1). ...
... Despite the potential of humanoid robots to engage users and support care, Pepper has not specifically been implanted in assisting with care for persons with dementia in clinical practice. In addition, limited research has been conducted on Pepper, specifically in people with dementia (Sato et al., 2020). People with dementia and their care partners may have special needs different from healthy adults, people with mental illness, and persons with impaired physical function. ...
... This is especially important for the vulnerable older adult population. Sato et al. (2020) conducted a qualitative case study using Pepper in older adults with schizophrenia and/or dementia and showed that using humanoid robots in long-term care still needs improvements in technology to improve communication and promote activities in users (Sato et al., 2020). Another study (Zuschnegg et al., 2021) focused on the expectations of 52 dementia care partners and healthcare workers on using humanoid robots through a qualitative study. ...
Introduction
Cognitive impairment significantly affects independence in persons with dementia, and consistent supervision is often needed. While interest has arisen in using humanoid robots, such as Pepper, to assist with daily caregiving activities, little is known about the perceptions of using Pepper to assist people with dementia.
Objective
This study aimed to explore the perceptions of nonhealthcare workers, care partners, and healthcare workers on the use of a Pepper robot in dementia care.
Methods
This was a secondary qualitative analysis. Data were collected from a pilot study conducted from November 2020 to March 2021 using an online survey. The survey consisted of quantitative and qualitative questions; this study only focused on the qualitative responses. The detailed procedures and the quantitative results were published elsewhere. Participants included nonhealthcare workers, care partners, and healthcare workers.
Results
A total of 194 participants responded to the open-ended question. Participants described potential benefits of Pepper including assisting with daily activities, monitoring safety and medication use, initiating reminders, and promoting activities and social interactions. Participants had concerns about privacy, cost, poor acceptance/trust, Pepper making mistakes, limitations in environmental navigation and responding to emergencies, misuse of Pepper, and Pepper replacing humans. Participants suggested that Pepper should be tailored to each individual's background, preferences, and functions and recommended improving the logistics of using Pepper, offering more emotional support and responses, and using a more natural appearance and voice.
Conclusion
Pepper may support dementia care; yet some concerns need to be addressed. Future research should consider incorporating these comments when designing robots for dementia care.
... For example, educational meetings may refer to training sessions during which the functions of the robots are explained to the staff involved in the intervention. References for the included papers Implementation [10,18,56] Communities of practice [47] Continuous quality improvement [59,62,63] Educational games [9,16,49,51,55,56,[62][63][64]66] Educational materials [8,9,16,46,49,[51][52][53][54]57,60,[64][65][66] Educational meetings [16] Educational outreach visits or academic detailing [66] Interprofessional education [8,9,16,22,46,48,49,52,55,57,60,61,65,66] Local consensus processes [51,[53][54][55][56] Managerial supervision [10,16,18,21,48,54,57,59,61,[63][64][65] Patient-mediated interventions [10] Routine patient-reported outcome measures [18,21,22,48,49,53,56,57,59,62,65,66] Tailored interventions ...
... For example, educational meetings may refer to training sessions during which the functions of the robots are explained to the staff involved in the intervention. References for the included papers Implementation [10,18,56] Communities of practice [47] Continuous quality improvement [59,62,63] Educational games [9,16,49,51,55,56,[62][63][64]66] Educational materials [8,9,16,46,49,[51][52][53][54]57,60,[64][65][66] Educational meetings [16] Educational outreach visits or academic detailing [66] Interprofessional education [8,9,16,22,46,48,49,52,55,57,60,61,65,66] Local consensus processes [51,[53][54][55][56] Managerial supervision [10,16,18,21,48,54,57,59,61,[63][64][65] Patient-mediated interventions [10] Routine patient-reported outcome measures [18,21,22,48,49,53,56,57,59,62,65,66] Tailored interventions ...
... For example, educational meetings may refer to training sessions during which the functions of the robots are explained to the staff involved in the intervention. References for the included papers Implementation [10,18,56] Communities of practice [47] Continuous quality improvement [59,62,63] Educational games [9,16,49,51,55,56,[62][63][64]66] Educational materials [8,9,16,46,49,[51][52][53][54]57,60,[64][65][66] Educational meetings [16] Educational outreach visits or academic detailing [66] Interprofessional education [8,9,16,22,46,48,49,52,55,57,60,61,65,66] Local consensus processes [51,[53][54][55][56] Managerial supervision [10,16,18,21,48,54,57,59,61,[63][64][65] Patient-mediated interventions [10] Routine patient-reported outcome measures [18,21,22,48,49,53,56,57,59,62,65,66] Tailored interventions ...
BACKGROUND
The use of social robots as innovative therapeutic tools has been increasingly explored in recent years in an effort to address the growing need for alternative intervention modalities in mental health care.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this scoping review was to identify and describe social robot interventions in mental health facilities and to highlight their outcomes as well as the barriers and facilitators to their implementation.
METHODS
A scoping review of the literature published since 2015 was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. The MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO databases were searched, and 2239 papers were retrieved. The papers included were primary empirical studies published in peer-reviewed literature. Eligible studies were set in mental health facilities and they included participants with a known mental health disorder. The methodological quality of the included papers was also assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
RESULTS
A total of 30 papers met the eligibility criteria for this review. Studies involved participants with dementia, cognitive impairment, schizophrenia, depression, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and an intellectual disability. The outcomes studied included engagement, social interaction, emotional state, agitation, behavior, and quality of life.
CONCLUSIONS
The methodological weaknesses of the studies conducted this far and the lack of diversity in the conditions studied limit the generalizability of the results. However, despite the presence of certain barriers to their implementation (eg, technical problems, unsuitable environment, staff resistance), social robot interventions generally show positive effects on patients with mental health disorders. Studies of stronger methodological quality are needed to further understand the benefits and the place of social robots in mental health care.
... For example, educational meetings may refer to training sessions during which the functions of the robots are explained to the staff involved in the intervention. References for the included papers Implementation [10,18,56] Communities of practice [47] Continuous quality improvement [59,62,63] Educational games [9,16,49,51,55,56,[62][63][64]66] Educational materials [8,9,16,46,49,[51][52][53][54]57,60,[64][65][66] Educational meetings [16] Educational outreach visits or academic detailing [66] Interprofessional education [8,9,16,22,46,48,49,52,55,57,60,61,65,66] Local consensus processes [51,[53][54][55][56] Managerial supervision [10,16,18,21,48,54,57,59,61,[63][64][65] Patient-mediated interventions [10] Routine patient-reported outcome measures [18,21,22,48,49,53,56,57,59,62,65,66] Tailored interventions ...
... For example, educational meetings may refer to training sessions during which the functions of the robots are explained to the staff involved in the intervention. References for the included papers Implementation [10,18,56] Communities of practice [47] Continuous quality improvement [59,62,63] Educational games [9,16,49,51,55,56,[62][63][64]66] Educational materials [8,9,16,46,49,[51][52][53][54]57,60,[64][65][66] Educational meetings [16] Educational outreach visits or academic detailing [66] Interprofessional education [8,9,16,22,46,48,49,52,55,57,60,61,65,66] Local consensus processes [51,[53][54][55][56] Managerial supervision [10,16,18,21,48,54,57,59,61,[63][64][65] Patient-mediated interventions [10] Routine patient-reported outcome measures [18,21,22,48,49,53,56,57,59,62,65,66] Tailored interventions ...
... For example, educational meetings may refer to training sessions during which the functions of the robots are explained to the staff involved in the intervention. References for the included papers Implementation [10,18,56] Communities of practice [47] Continuous quality improvement [59,62,63] Educational games [9,16,49,51,55,56,[62][63][64]66] Educational materials [8,9,16,46,49,[51][52][53][54]57,60,[64][65][66] Educational meetings [16] Educational outreach visits or academic detailing [66] Interprofessional education [8,9,16,22,46,48,49,52,55,57,60,61,65,66] Local consensus processes [51,[53][54][55][56] Managerial supervision [10,16,18,21,48,54,57,59,61,[63][64][65] Patient-mediated interventions [10] Routine patient-reported outcome measures [18,21,22,48,49,53,56,57,59,62,65,66] Tailored interventions ...
Background:
The use of social robots as innovative therapeutic tools has been increasingly explored in recent years in an effort to address the growing need for alternative intervention modalities in mental health care.
Objective:
The aim of this scoping review was to identify and describe social robot interventions in mental health facilities and to highlight their outcomes as well as the barriers and facilitators to their implementation.
Methods:
A scoping review of the literature published since 2015 was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. The MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO databases were searched, and 2239 papers were retrieved. The papers included were primary empirical studies published in peer-reviewed literature. Eligible studies were set in mental health facilities and they included participants with a known mental health disorder. The methodological quality of the included papers was also assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
Results:
A total of 30 papers met the eligibility criteria for this review. Studies involved participants with dementia, cognitive impairment, schizophrenia, depression, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and an intellectual disability. The outcomes studied included engagement, social interaction, emotional state, agitation, behavior, and quality of life.
Conclusions:
The methodological weaknesses of the studies conducted this far and the lack of diversity in the conditions studied limit the generalizability of the results. However, despite the presence of certain barriers to their implementation (eg, technical problems, unsuitable environment, staff resistance), social robot interventions generally show positive effects on patients with mental health disorders. Studies of stronger methodological quality are needed to further understand the benefits and the place of social robots in mental health care.
... These tasks include waiting for the doctor's approval (which may take 85 min daily) and inputting duplicate data, which might be automated to save up to 10% of their time and maximise resource utilisation. Based on studies on robot-assisted nursing, 67.2% of nurse managers said that, without replacing nurses, robots might significantly lower workloads [171]. Integrated studies also underlined the value of robots in delivering medications and patient monitoring, enhancing safety and satisfaction. ...
... Apart from cutting the non-essential time spent working, these technologies improved the quality of data collection, thereby enabling faster response to issues related to patient health. It has been shown that humanoid robots, such as Pepper, could increase interaction with the long-term care of dementia patients [171]. However, to fulfil their potential, more technical developments are needed. ...
Nurses are frontline caregivers who handle heavy workloads and high-stakes activities. They face several mental health issues, including stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression. The welfare of nurses and the standard of patient treatment depends on resolving this problem. Artificial intelligence is revolutionising healthcare, and its integration provides many possibilities in addressing these concerns. This review examines literature published over the past 40 years, concentrating on AI integration in nursing for mental health support, improved patient care, and ethical issues. Using databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar, a thorough search was conducted with Boolean operators, narrowing results for relevance. Critically examined were publications on artificial intelligence applications in patient care ethics, mental health, and nursing and mental health. The literature examination revealed that, by automating repetitive chores and improving workload management, artificial intelligence (AI) can relieve mental health challenges faced by nurses and improve patient care. Practical implications highlight the requirement of using rigorous implementation strategies that address ethical issues, data privacy, and human-centred decision-making. All changes must direct the integration of artificial intelligence in nursing to guarantee its sustained and significant influence on healthcare.
... They have shown effectiveness in many instances (Hurmuz et al., 2022). The latest innovations in technology-driven exercise are the utilization of humanoid (human-resembling) technologies (HTs), like physical humanoid robot coaches (HRCs) (Sato et al., 2020;Tanioka et al., 2020). Due to the advent of virtual worlds and mixed-reality applications, virtual humans as embodied conversational agents (ECAs) are also emerging (Hurmuz et al., 2022). ...
... As a result, current studies are recommended to focus on developing and evaluating user-preferred technologies using human-centered approaches and innovative research designs (Fattal et al., 2020;Hurmuz et al., 2022). This approach is valuable for understanding how older adults interact with technology and leverage it to meet their needs (Sato et al., 2020)better. In response to the current grey spots and gaps found in a recently published literature review (see Dino et al., 2022), this paper envisions advancing the field of gero-technology interaction by assessing older adults' preferences for an ideal virtual human exercise coach based on several attributes and levels via conjoint analysis. ...
... With a wide range of use, the robot is intended to facilitate human life and reduce the workload. In addition to its role in daily life, its use in rehabilitation, education, and elder care through applications is becoming widespread, and development studies are ongoing (Bechade et al. 2019, Sato et al. 2020, Tanaka et al. 2015, Tanioka 2019, Ujike et al. 2019. ...
... In a study on elderly schizophrenic patients with low physical functionality and used wheelchairs, it was revealed that Pepper contributed significantly to developing patients' communication and participation in activities and that patients had fun (Ujike et al. 2019). Similarly, in another study conducted for older people with schizophrenia or dementia, the reaction, interaction, and benefit aspects were examined (Sato et al. 2020). In addition, Pepper was used for different purposes, such as teaching English at home to 4-5-year-old children (Tanaka et al. 2015), psychometric assessment for older people (Rossi et al. 2018), and rehabilitation for older people (Tanioka 2019). ...
Robots are becoming increasingly common in many areas of human life as technology advances. Considering the usage areas, robots appear in a wide range, from entertainment to psychotherapy. In addition to its role in facilitating human life, its use in the health field has recently been quite remarkable. In this study, interactive robots are evaluated in general and their use in the mental health field is discussed on a large scale. Accordingly, the primary purpose of this study is to examine the need for the development of interactive and therapy robots, their areas of use, and studies on their effectiveness as well as therapy robots that are generally accepted in the relevant literature. The results of the examination show that interactive robots are classified into six groups: social, entertainment, educational, rehabilitation, sex, and therapy robots. In the related literature, Eliza, Woebot, Youper, Wysa, Simsensei Kiosk, Paro, NeCoRo, Kaspar, Bandit, and Pepper have generally been accepted as therapy robots. The results of the studies demonstrate the effectiveness and the usage of interactive therapy robots in therapy for different groups and needs, especially for disadvantaged individuals. On the other hand, it is considered that more research on the effectiveness of robots is needed. Considering the effects on mental health and quality of life, it is believed that the usage of robots in therapy is important and its widespread use will have a significant positive effect in the field.
... Currently, various smart devices, including smart mattresses [17][18][19], rehabilitation nursing robots [20,21], and patient transport robots [22,23] are being developed using the Internet of Things (IoT) or sensors. However, research on EC has predominantly focused on biological signal collection and fecal analysis using the Smart Excretion Care System [24,25]. ...
... Most prior studies have either conducted exploratory investigations or worked toward standardizing nursing practices [8,9]. The development of numerous smart devices, such as smart mattresses and patient transport robots [17][18][19][20][21][22][23], is a progressive step. However, when it comes to EC, the emphasis has mainly been on biological signal collection and fecal analysis [24,25]. ...
Background
The surge in older demographics has inevitably resulted in a heightened demand for health care, and a shortage of nursing staff is impending. Consequently, there is a growing demand for the development of nursing robots to assist patients with urinary and bowel elimination. However, no study has examined nurses’ opinions of smart devices that provide integrated nursing for patients’ urinary and bowel elimination needs.
Objective
This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the Smart Excretion Care System tethered to electronic medical records in a tertiary hospital and community care setting and discuss the anticipated reductions in the burden of nursing care.
Methods
Focus group interviews were conducted using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines. The interviews were conducted in March 2021 and involved 67 nurses who had worked at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital for more than 1 year and had experience in assisting patients with excretion care. Data were collected using purposive and snowball sampling methods.
Results
A total of four themes relevant to the Smart Excretion Care System were found: (1) expected reductions in the burden of nursing care, (2) applicable indications (by departments and diseases), (3) preferred features/functions, and (4) expected benefits of using the Smart Excretion Care System in clinical facilities. Nurses from comprehensive nursing care wards had the highest burden when it came to excretion care. It was a common opinion that the Smart Excretion Care System would be very useful in intensive care units and should be applied first to patients with stroke or dementia.
Conclusions
Excretion care is one of the most burdensome tasks for nurses, increasing their workload. The development of the Smart Excretion Care System as a digital health intervention could help improve nurses’ work efficiency, reduce their burden, and extend to caregivers and guardians.
... We implemented our approach for the CleanMeAI project using the Pepper robot [58], which has been widely used in other works dealing with human interactions [18,61,62]. Unlike humans, autonomous robots like Pepper as shown previously in Figure 5 do not tire with repetitive tasks. ...
... A particular application scenario pertaining to robots in assisted-living environments requires an amalgamation of more than just a single research area. It is discernible from the past, present, and future perspectives within this area, that it is a multi-disciplinary field when a particular use-case is considered [1][2][3][4][19][20][21]25,26,29,31,34,[39][40][41]61,62,64,66]. More specifically, complex robotic systems or intelligent robots in the future, which can operate independently in an assisted living environment, could combine knowledge from AI, machine learning, cognitive machine intelligence, sophisticated robotics, embedded systems, IoT and healthcare engineering. ...
From caretaking activities for elderly people to being assistive in healthcare setup, mobile and non-mobile robots have the potential to be highly applicable and serviceable. The ongoing pandemic has shown that human-to-human contact in healthcare institutions and senior homes must be limited. In this scenario, elderlies and immunocompromised individuals must be exclusively protected. Robots are a promising way to overcome this problem in assisted living environments. In addition, the advent of AI and machine learning will pave a way for intelligent robots with cognitive abilities, while enabling them to be more aware of their surroundings. In this paper, we discuss the general perspectives, potential research opportunities, and challenges arising in the area of robots in assisted living environments and present our research work pertaining to certain application scenarios, i.e., robots in rehabilitation and robots in hospital environments and pandemics, which, in turn, exhibits the growing prospects and interdisciplinary nature of the field of robots in assisted living environment.
... For example, assistive robots are used as companions to support older adults [23], robotic wheelchairs are used to support patient mobility [24], [25]. Robots are used to support people with rehabilitative training, patients with psychiatric disabilities by engaging in rehabilitative training [26], older adults to support recreation [27], and improve patients' motor skills [28]. Robots also perform non-patient-facing tasks, such as fetching and delivering supplies [29]- [33] to free up time for HCWs to focus on patient care. ...
Designing robots to support high-stakes teamwork in emergency settings presents unique challenges, including seamless integration into fast-paced environments, facilitating effective communication among team members, and adapting to rapidly changing situations. While teleoperated robots have been successfully used in high-stakes domains such as firefighting and space exploration, autonomous robots that aid highs-takes teamwork remain underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted a rapid prototyping process to develop a series of seemingly autonomous robot designed to assist clinical teams in the Emergency Room. We transformed a standard crash cart--which stores medical equipment and emergency supplies into a medical robotic crash cart (MCCR). The MCCR was evaluated through field deployments to assess its impact on team workload and usability, identified taxonomies of failure, and refined the MCCR in collaboration with healthcare professionals. Our work advances the understanding of robot design for high-stakes, time-sensitive settings, providing insights into useful MCCR capabilities and considerations for effective human-robot collaboration. By publicly disseminating our MCCR tutorial, we hope to encourage HRI researchers to explore the design of robots for high-stakes teamwork.
... (1) Así mismo, en diferentes instituciones de salud en el mundo se han creado robots automáticos como: dispensador de medicamentos (2) y otros para apoyar en las funciones de enfermería, los cuales se denominaron robots de asistencia, (3) otros más especializados que se han diseñado para brindar atención de soporte y confort en niños, así como adultos mayores con problemas de salud mental. (4) El apoyo de la tecnología en las actividades de enfermería es fundamental para aprovechar completamente el potencial de la IA. ...
Introduction: In Mexico, challenges and opportunities were identified for nursing professionals, where the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as an essential tool to improve patient care. AI, through algorithms and learning models, allows professionals to access critical information and evidence for clinical decision-making. Methods: A systematic review of observational studies was carried out, it was used as a warning or instruction in Generative AI. The above was complemented with MesH words and health descriptors, Boolean operators were used. The search was made of original research, summaries, articles, and gray literature. The selection and extraction was done in Embase, Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library databases to later read them and perform meta-analysis. Results: The implementation of AI facilitated the personalization of patient care, improving efficiency in diagnoses and care plans. They found that AI-powered systems allowed nurses to manage workloads more effectively and respond to complex situations more quickly. However, concerns were also raised about privacy and ethics in data handling.Conclusions: AI has the potential to significantly transform nursing practice by optimizing processes and improving clinical outcomes. Despite its advantages, it is essential to address the ethical and legal challenges associated with its use. Collaboration between nursing and engineering is essential to ensure effective and responsible integration of AI into healthcare.
... In riferimento agli studi diHung et al. (2019), si considera l'impiego del robot PARO e l'impatto sulla "riduzione dei sintomi emotivi e comportamentali negativi, il miglioramento dell'impegno sociale e la promozione dell'umore positivo e della qualità dell'esperienza di cura"(Maglio, 2021); limiti e lacune riguardano la mancanza di studi mirati sull'esperienza degli utenti, i costi e l'esigenza di approfondire questioni etiche. Maglio (ibidem) si riferisce poi alle ricerche diSato et al. (2020), con l'uso del robot sociale Pepper nell'interazione con anziani affetti da schizofrenia e demenza, e diOdekerken-Schröder et al. (2020), centrate sulla mitigazione di sentimenti di solitudine attraverso l'assunzione di diversi ruoli relazionali del robot.Paletta et al. (2019) presentano altresì i risultati vantaggiosi del sistema AMIGO nel contesto della robotica sociale rivolta a persone affette da demenza, in cui il robot Pepper è al contempo coach e companion dei pazienti (ibidem). ...
This narrative literature review aims to explore interactions in social robotics within a hospital context, highlighting how the complexity of interventions calls for an ethical and educational professional agency rooted in good care. We present the theoretical framework through three key insights and employ speculative method to stimulate the development of innovative training pathways for educational figures, against the backdrop of the human-robot interaction. La robotica sociale in ospedale come sfida educativa per la buona cura. Una revisione narrativa della letteratura. La presente revisione narrativa della letteratura mira ad esplorare interazioni di robotica sociale in ospedale, evidenziando come la complessità degli interventi richiami un’agentività professionale etica ed educativa di buona cura. Presentiamo l’ancoraggio teorico di tre rilievi e utilizziamo il metodo speculativo per stimolare fattivamente la creazione di percorsi formativi inediti rivolti alle figure educative, sullo sfondo relazionale uomo-robot.
... Pepper is frequently deployed in business contexts and not designed for a specific target group. In spite of its limited actuator capabilities, its popularity and technology readiness level has led to numerous further developments and applications in the context of care and therapy for elderly people [18,59,70,81]. ...
An aging society paired with a skilled labor shortage, particularly in European countries, requires a rethinking of deprecated structures. Intelligent assistive technologies, specifically socially assistive robots, addressing the gap between caretakers and elderly people in need of care have moved into the focus of debate due to their potentials to reduce costs, improve independence, and eventually raise quality of life. In this work, we outline the potentials of zoomorphic robot companions combining intelligent conversational abilities and emotion recognition. We then describe the prototyping of an emotion-sensing zoomorphic interactive robot companion including the development and implementation of a multimodal emotion recognition framework. This framework uses speech emotion recognition, sentiment analysis, and affective voice interaction based on a large language model. The prototyping has been accompanied by two studies on elderly peoples' design preferences regarding the proposed feature set as well as different embodiments to find the appropriate casing for the robot companion. This work provides valuable insights into the prototyping and can thus support future research endeavors in this area.
... The humanoid AI robot Pepper was developed by Softbank in Japan. Pepper's functionality is limited to speaking; however, Pepper is used in nursing care facilities for older adults and is expected to effectively prevent and slow the progression of dementia (Sato et al. 2020). ...
This study challenges the conventional boundaries of philosophy by asserting that organizations can function as legitimate subjects within philosophical discourse. Western philosophy, epitomized by Descartes, has long assumed that individual human beings are the fundamental units of thought and moral agency. However, in a significant oversight, this belief overlooks the idea that organizations can think independently, leading to both virtuous and malevolent results. Epistemology lacks a clear prioritization of morally sound knowledge over potentially harmful knowledge. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has also transformed the landscape of cognition from a primarily individual human endeavor into a joint undertaking where humans collaborate with AI entities in collective thinking and decision-making. Nevertheless, AI lacks the innate ability to discern between ethical and unethical actions. This symbiosis creates organizations as fundamental philosophical subjects, marking a significant shift in philosophical emphasis where the organization takes the center stage. Accordingly, within this emerging field, we advance four propositions as the core subjects of organization philosophy: organizations can think, organizations can create knowledge, AI can be part of an organization, and humans in the organization control moral discipline. These propositions guide the ethical coexistence of AI and human agents in organizations, emphasizing the importance of ethical deliberation in knowledge use. Moreover, the malicious use of profound knowledge hinders human progress, as illustrated in this study by an ethical examination of military institutions within organization philosophy.
... Population aging and technological diffusion are two intersecting transitions currently experienced globally. Now, more than ever, the aging of the population requires technology-driven health services (Abdi et al., 2018) to complement the increasing demand and offer other accessible options for health services (Sato et al., 2020). As healthcare institutions recommend health-enhancing activities such as physical exercise programs as essential components of health promotion for older adults, several tools and technologies supporting active lifestyles are also increasing in parallel. ...
... Furthermore, robots dedicated to emotional fulfillment primarily serve as social companions, addressing patients' psychological and social needs by establishing emotional connections 28 . For example, Paro, the robot designed as a therapeutic tool, offers emotional support, alleviates feelings of loneliness and depression, and also guides the elderly in engaging in recreational activities 29 . ...
Robotic solutions designed to cater to the needs of the elderly, commonly known as eldercare robots or nursing robots, hold the promise of delivering intelligent elderly care, alleviating societal caregiving pressures, and reducing financial burdens on nations. Scholars across various disciplines have delved into the realm of eldercare robotics from different perspectives. Four types of robots at the design level are currently used in the elderly care industry: anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, cartoon, and mechanical-functional. They can play such roles as assistants, companions, and even surrogate pets, providing support for the elderly’s daily routines, cognitive enhancement, and emotional well-being. Acceptance of eldercare robots hinges on three key factors: technical attributes, user-specific characteristics, and the surrounding social environment. The utilization of eldercare robots has the potential to positively impact various aspects of the elderly population, such as their physiological health, cognitive abilities, psychological well-being, and social interactions. However, it can also lead to social isolation, reduced autonomy, increased sense of objectification, blurred responsibility attribution, and tendencies towards deceptive and childish behavior. Additionally, eldercare robots also influence healthcare professionals in terms of workload, working conditions, job satisfaction and sense of purpose, both positively and negatively. This paper examines these research findings within the context of theories in communication, technology ethics, and medical ethics, shedding light on the multifaceted landscape of eldercare robotics.
... They can guide patients through exercises, provide feedback, and track progress over time. Mental health: There's growing interest in using robots like Pepper for mental health interventions (Ujike et al., 2019;Sato et al., 2020). For instance, they can be used in cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions, relaxation exercises, or even as a medium for patients to express their feelings. ...
Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs) represent a significant healthcare and economic burden for families and society. Technology, including AI and digital technologies, offers potential solutions for the assessment, monitoring, and treatment of NDDs. However, further research is needed to determine the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of these technologies in NDDs, and to address the challenges associated with their implementation. In this work, we present the application of social robotics using a Pepper robot connected to the OpenAI system (Chat-GPT) for real-time dialogue initiation with the robot. After describing the general architecture of the system, we present two possible simulated interaction scenarios of a subject with Autism Spectrum Disorder in two different situations. Limitations and future implementations are also provided to provide an overview of the potential developments of interconnected systems that could greatly contribute to technological advancements for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD).
... In recent years, significant progress has been made in both verbal and nonverbal approaches to human-robot interactions. As the introduction of robots for medical and longterm care is being steadily promoted [26,27], accumulating evidence suggests that ELAI can be aided by communication robots [8]. Dialogue systems have evolved into various forms, including task-oriented [28][29][30], non-task-oriented [29][30][31], and multimodal dialogue systems [32][33][34]. ...
The aim of this study was to design user-friendly off-line human–robot interactions based on a telephonic conversation database (TCD), and to provide the elderly living alone independently (ELAI) with psychological support. A TCD was established based on phone calls to 170 ELAI, made once every 2 weeks for 10 years. Based on the TCD, conversation flows were continuously analysed through a Question–answer-response format, which was centred on 366 ordinary topics, 291 physical topics, and 322 psychological topics. Usability was evaluated in a trial involving 15 ELAI in their homes over a 4-to-8-week period. Their emotional states were evaluated using the Profile of Mood States (2nd Edition Short Form) and Functional independence measure (FIM) pre- and post-trial. Eighty-seven per cent of the participants indicated that the robots helped them in their daily lives. A close examination of the changes in all participants showed statistically significant improvements in mood and 3 out of 5 FIM cognitive items. Eighty-seven per cent of study participants wished to continue the experiment. We determined that the communication robots, in conjunction with the TCD, improved the psychological well-being of the ELAI.
... Pepper [36], developed by the French-Japanese company Aldebaran/Softbank Robotics, is a sophisticated social robot popular and accessible in some countries, such as Japan. Pepper has been designed to interact with humans in various contexts, such children robot interaction [8], rehabilitation care [55] and public spaces [56], making it a suitable candidate for enabling humans to walk hand-in-hand through pHRI. In [57], a solution enabling Pepper to act as a walking trainer for elderly people and rehabilitation patients is proposed. ...
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of robotic systems for improving the quality of life of individuals of all ages. Specifically, humanoid robots offer advantages in terms of friendliness and ease of use in such applications. This article proposes a novel system architecture that enables a commercial humanoid robot, specifically the Pepper robot, to walk side-by-side while holding hands, and communicating by responding to the surrounding environment. To achieve this control, an observer is required to estimate the force applied to the robot. This was accomplished by comparing joint torques calculated from the dynamics model to actual current measurements. Additionally, object recognition was performed using Pepper’s camera to facilitate communication in response to surrounding objects. By integrating these components, the system has demonstrated its capability to achieve its intended purpose.
... Social robots come in many shapes and sizes. They are typically either zoomorphic (i.e., pet robots such as the robot seal Paro [7], the robot cat NeCoRo [8] and the robot dog Sony Aibo [9] or humanoid, such as the robots Mario [10][11][12], Silbot [13,14], Telenoid [15,16] and Pepper [17,18]. However, social robots can also be telepresence robots, such as Giraff [19], that facilitate interactions between a resident and his or her family members by facilitating video calls on a tablet attached to a mobile, remotely controlled robot. ...
Social robots are increasingly used in the care of older adults, including people living with dementia. An important prerequisite for effective use is knowledge about which factors facilitate and hinder the acceptance of social robots. The aim of this review at the intersection of health care research and human–robot interaction research is to understand factors facilitating and hindering the acceptance of social robots for older adults and people living with dementia in nursing homes based on the Almere model and to identify research gaps. We conducted a scoping review, systematically searching MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Compendex. The Almere model of acceptance was used to guide the development and conduct of this review. We used the principles of deductive content analysis, and we narratively present the review results. Twenty-six studies were included in the review. We found facilitating and/or hindering factors for all constructs of the Almere model. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyment were the most studied constructs, whereas trust and intention to use were the least studied constructs. Across constructs, seeing robots positively impacting residents was one of the key facilitating factors, and practical difficulties were a hindering factor. The Almere model provided useful insight into the acceptance of social robots. Nevertheless, we found the concept of engagement, the nursing home context, the intervention characteristics and the individual user groups important for the acceptance of social robots in nursing homes and therefore argue for future research expanding on the model.
... First, socially assistive robots can support users with different tasks apart from facilitating social interactions. Examples include Pepper (4), a robot that can be programmed to engage people with dementia in cognitively stimulating activities (5), and MARIO (6), which provides nursing home residents with dementia access to personalised calendars and photos for reminiscence (7). Telepresence robots are non-autonomous or semi-autonomous robots that mostly comprise a videoconferencing monitor mounted on a mobile platform. ...
Background
Pet robots are gaining momentum as a technology-based intervention to support the psychosocial wellbeing of people with dementia. Current research suggests that they can reduce agitation, improve mood and social engagement. The implementation of pet robots in care for persons with dementia raises several ethical debates. However, there is a paucity of empirical evidence to uncover care providers’ ethical intuitions, defined as individuals’ fundamental moral knowledge that are not underpinned by any specific propositions.
Objectives
Explore care professionals’ and organisational leaders’ ethical intuitions before and when implementing pet robots in nursing homes for routine dementia care.
Materials and methods
We undertook a secondary qualitative analysis of data generated from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 22 care professionals and organisational leaders from eight nursing homes in Ireland. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Ethical constructs derived from a comprehensive review of argument-based ethics literature were used to guide the deductive coding of concepts. An inductive approach was used to generate open codes not falling within the pre-existing concepts.
Findings
Ethical intuitions for implementing pet robots manifested at three levels: an (1) individual-relational, (2) organisational and (3) societal level. At the individual-relational level, ethical intuitions involved supporting the autonomy of residents and care providers, using the robots to alleviate residents’ social isolation, and the physical and psychosocial impacts associated with their use. Some care providers had differing sentiments about anthropomorphizing pet robots. At the organisational level, intuitions related to the use of pet robots to relieve care provision, changes to the organisational workflow, and varying extents of openness amongst care providers to use technological innovations. At the societal level, intuitions pertained conceptions of dementia care in nursing homes, and social justice relating to the affordability and availability of pet robots. Discrepancies between participants’ ethical intuitions and existing philosophical arguments were uncovered.
Conclusion
Care professionals and organisational leaders had different opinions on how pet robots are or should be implemented for residents with dementia. Future research should consider involving care practitioners, people with dementia, and their family members in the ethics dialogue to support the sustainable, ethical use of pet robots in practice.
... Ejemplo paradigmático es el de la Escuela de Enfermería de la Universidad de Duke la cual, en asocio con la Escuela de Ingeniería, consiguió participar en la fabricación de un robot humanoide capaz de ser entrenado para realizar 23 tareas diferentes (15). Cabe mencionar también a los robots automáticos dispensadores de medicación (automated dispensing robots) (16); los robots de asistencia física (physical-assistive robotics); Clara Robot (17), y los robots de asistencia social que dan soporte a niños y ancianos, y confort a pacientes en el fin de vida (18). ...
La enfermería no es ajena al cambio revolucionario que supone la introducción de la inteligencia artificial en el cuidado de la salud. A principios de 2021 se publicaron las conclusiones del think-tank internacional sobre la inteligencia artificial y la enfermería, en las que se reconoce la relevancia del uso de dichas tecnologías para aumentar y extender las capacidades de esta disciplina, entre ellas, el cuidado. Una valoración ponderada acerca del acierto de estas conclusiones exige, necesariamente, una reflexión epistemológica sobre el cuidado. En el presente artículo reflexionaremos sobre la incidencia de la inteligencia artificial en el cuidado de enfermería desde la perspectiva de la ética del cuidado y a la luz de los principales aportes del Samaritanus Bonus.
... These demographic trends represent challenges in advanced age-related chronic diseases and traditional models for healthcare delivery. Now more than ever, the continuous "greying" of the population requires technology-driven nursing services (Sato et al., 2020). ...
Objectives
This study examined the published works related to healthcare robotics for older people using the attributes of health, nursing, and the human-computer interaction framework.
Design
An integrative literature review.
Methods
A search strategy captured 55 eligible articles from databases (CINAHL, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and PubMed) and hand-searching approaches. Bibliometric and content analyses grounded on the health and nursing attributes and human-computer interaction framework were performed using MAXQDA. Finally, results were verified using critical friend feedback by a second reviewer.
Results
Most articles were from multiple authorship, published in non-nursing journals, and originating from developed economies. They primarily focused on applying healthcare robots in practice settings, physical health, and communication tasks. Using the human-computer interaction framework, it was found that older adults frequently served as the primary users while nurses, healthcare providers, and researchers functioned as secondary users and operators. Research articles focused on the usability, functionality, and acceptability of robotic systems. At the same time, theoretical papers explored the frameworks and the value of empathy and emotion in robots, human-computer interaction and nursing models and theories supporting healthcare practice, and gerontechnology. Current robotic systems are less anthropomorphic, operated through real-time direct and supervisory inputs, and mainly equipped with visual and auditory sensors and actuators with limited capability in performing health assessments.
Conclusion
Results communicate the need for technological competency among nurses, advancements in increasing healthcare robot humanness, and the importance of conscientious efforts from an interdisciplinary research team in improving robotic system usability and utility for the care of older adults.
... At the end of the inquiry, participants showed strong emotions when letting go of the robot, indicating the importance of the social bond they had created with it. The Pepper robot has also been used in cases of schizophrenia and dementia for recreational purposes [85,86]. ...
Social Assistive Robotics is increasingly being used in care settings to provide psychosocial support and interventions for the elderly with cognitive impairments. Most of these social robots have provided timely stimuli to the elderly at home and in care centres, including keeping them active and boosting their mood. However, previous investigations have registered shortcomings in these robots, particularly in their ability to satisfy an essential human need: the need for companionship. Reports show that the elderly tend to lose interests in these social robots after the initial excitement as the novelty wears out and the monotonous familiarity becomes all too familiar. This paper presents our research facilitating conversations between a social humanoid robot, Nadine, and cognitively impaired elderly at a nursing home. We analysed the effectiveness of human–humanoid interactions between our robot and 14 elderly over 29 sessions. We used both objective tools (based on computer vision methods) and subjective tools (based on observational scales) to evaluate the recorded videos. Our findings showed that our subjects engaged positively with Nadine, suggesting that their interaction with the robot could improve their well-being by compensating for some of their emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial deficiencies. We detected emotions associated with cognitively impaired elderly during these interactions. This study could help understand the expectations of the elderly and the current limitations of Social Assistive Robots. Our research is aligned with all the ethical recommendations by the NTU Institutional Review Board.
... In Japan, Pepper has been used for interactive communication purposes, such as to dictate menus in several retail shops, including sushi restaurants, and as an interactive directory in healthcare institutions. In their study using the Pepper robot in geriatric health facilities in Japan, Sato et al. (2020) found that it was necessary to determine the preliminary effects of its use, focusing on considerations to appreciate the use of humanoid robot technologies in healthcare. ...
Background:
Caring expressions between humans and nonhuman intelligent machines are futuristic prototypes with healthcare robots as major advocates.
Objective:
To examine the experience of older persons with mental health conditions, particularly patients with schizophrenia and with dementia in the interaction with healthcare robots and intermediaries in a transactive relational engagement.
Methods:
Two qualitative case studies were conducted using sophisticated audio-video technologies to record the conversation and activities that were carefully documented. Following the procedure for qualitative descriptive analysis, a framework based on the Transactive Relationship Theory of Nursing was employed to analyze and interpret the data.
Results:
Three themes were revealed, including feelings for the other, inspiring meaningful responses, and demonstrating expressions of joy. The description of the experience of older persons involved in the conversation with humanoid robots was feeling for the other while inspiring meaningful responses in demonstrating expressions of joy.
Conclusion:
This study provided initial evidence that the transactive engagements of robots with older persons with schizophrenia and dementia and nurse intermediaries in psychiatric and mental health settings can result in occasions of 'joy' for the patients. These findings suggest that transactive engagements with robots facilitate expressions of joy among older persons with schizophrenia and dementia. However, these findings are not intended to prescribe nursing care actions but to describe the experience of older persons who are in transactive engagements with intelligent machines, indicating the importance and value of healthcare robots in nursing older persons with schizophrenia and with dementia.
... In terms of social assistants, recent academic works are [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], and commercial ones are [35], [36], [37]. In terms of medical and rehabilitation assistants, recent works are [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43]. Despite this, there is still a lot of work to be done and we believe that in the future we will observe an exponential growth of this domain. ...
Global demographic changes have resulted in a growing technological demand to meet the arisen social needs. In particular, the increasingly ageing population requires assistive technologies to stay at home for longer independently while receiving continuous healthcare. In this sense, a wide academic and industrial research is taking place, introducing these technologies in hospitals and rehabilitation centres. This paper aims at providing an overview of research projects for elderly care and assistance, focusing on cognitive and robot assistants due to their popularity in the area. More precisely, physical and/or cognitive rehabilitation are presented. This paper also discusses their limitations and the open challenges to be tackled in order to be successfully integrated in our society.
... Deploying humanoid robots in long-term care would require numerous improvements in robotic technology, in order to elicit an increase in communication and other physical activities, motivation, and a sense of calmness from its clients (Sato et al., 2020). Such robots would have the potential to assist with non-pharmacological interventions based on verbal communication to support care of older persons with dementia. ...
Aim:
This study aimed to describe the interactions between healthcare robots and older persons in two selected institutions.
Methods:
A qualitative descriptive analysis study using simultaneous observations of healthcare robot and older person interactions was conducted at two healthcare institutions in Japan. The Pepper robot equipped with Care Prevention Gymnastics Exercise programs was used in two situations: (a) exercise regimen led by Pepper; and (b) interactive dialogue between Pepper and older persons during the exercise process. These interactions were recorded using audiovisual equipment and analyzed using content analysis thereby revealing four thematic categories. Interpretation and discussion were structured based on assumptions of the Transactive Relationship Theory of Nursing.
Results:
The analysis revealed four thematic categories: (a) intermediary participation of healthcare practitioners; (b) technologies of care for practice; (c) human-robot interactions involving artificial intelligence; and (d) valuing safety in nursing through technology.
Conclusion:
Interactions between healthcare robots and older persons may improve quality of care. However, issues regarding fidelity and functionality of dialogic conversations, and ensuring safety and security of using healthcare robots are recognized as critical nursing practice concerns in healthcare robot use in institutional settings.
... A six-axis Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) in the base and two tactile sensors on its hands conclude the sensors Pepper is equipped with. Pepper has been deployed successfully as a teaching assistant for children [24], as a companion for elderly people [25], and as a coach to guide elderly people with psychiatric disorders through rehabilitation recreational activities [26]. Recently, Carros et al. [27] employed Pepper in a group setting scenario in an institutional care facility with older adults for ten weeks and twenty sessions. ...
In recent years, with the current advancements in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), robots have the potential to support the field of healthcare. Robotic systems are often introduced in the care of the elderly, children, and persons with disabilities, in hospitals, in rehabilitation and walking assistance, and other healthcare situations. In this survey paper, the recent advances in robotic technology applied in the healthcare domain are discussed. The paper provides detailed information about state-of-the-art research in care, hospital, assistive, rehabilitation, and walking assisting robots. The paper also discusses the open challenges healthcare robots face to be integrated into our society.
... The objectives of CoZ are to enhance both the contextual and the social awareness of the workers, to manage the asynchronous nature of the workers during the conversational task and to support the task performance of the workers. The Pepper robot has also been used for the case of people that have special conditions such as schizophrenia or dementia during recreational or rehabilitation sessions [102]. Even though the humanoid robot can elicit simple instructions for simple activities such as physical exercises, numerous improvements are required in order to deploy the humanoid robots in the long-term care. ...
The world is facing major societal challenges because of an aging population that is putting increasing pressure on the sustainability of care. While demand for care and social services is steadily increasing, the supply is constrained by the decreasing workforce. The development of smart, physical, social and age-friendly environments is identified by World Health Organization (WHO) as a key intervention point for enabling older adults, enabling them to remain as much possible in their residences, delay institutionalization, and ultimately, improve quality of life. In this study, we survey smart environments, machine learning and robot assistive technologies that can offer support for the independent living of older adults and provide age-friendly care services. We describe two examples of integrated care services that are using assistive technologies in innovative ways to assess and deliver of timely interventions for polypharmacy management and for social and cognitive activity support in older adults. We describe the architectural views of these services, focusing on details about technology usage, end-user interaction flows and data models that are developed or enhanced to achieve the envisioned objective of healthier, safer, more independent and socially connected older people.
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art in humanoid robotics, discussing the latest advancements, challenges,and potential future trends in the field. Through an analysis of relevant literature, this paper highlights the importance of humanoid robots in various applications, including service, entertainment, and industrial sectors. Furthermore, this paper also identifies the main research questions and technical challenges that need to be addressed to enable the full potential of humanoid robots to be realized. The research on humanoid robots originated from the simulation of human behavior and morphology. The original intention of this simulation is to improve the adaptability, efficiency, and safety of robots in specific environments. For example, in a home environment, humanoid robots can mimic human actions and behaviors, completing tasks such as household chores, taking care of the elderly and children. On industrial production lines, humanoid robots can mimic the actions of workers and complete complex tasks such as assembly and handling. In addition, research on humanoid robots also involves multiple fields such as human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, computer vision, etc., providing strong technical support for the application of robots in various environments.
With the rapid advancement of technology, assistive robotic entities have arisen as indispensable instruments within diverse Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)-based health-care applications. By integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into these assistive robotic entities, they gain the capacity to autonomously perceive, engage in sophisticated reasoning, and execute actions within highly dynamic and complex environments. In light of these impressive achievements, this paper highlights a three-stage exploratory overview of the literature on the remarkable advancement of assistive robotics in HRI-based health-care applications. The first stage initiates an assessment of assistive robotics spanning historical epochs from ancient to modern times. Following this, the second stage comprehensively explores assistive robotics investigations in the realm of HRI-based health-care with its four sub-fields including rehabilitation, geriatric-care, pediatric-care, and nursing. Finally, the third stage entails a thorough analysis of the common challenges encountered in these pertinent investigations and provides a set of recommendations. This comprehensive paper not only provides an abundance of studies for each concept, method, and application in HRI, but it also presents their theoretical foundations, strengths, gaps, critical challenges, and recommendations. The results of the conducted exploratory overview shed light on the noteworthy prominence of assistive robotic entities within the HRI-based health-care field. The acquired findings emphasize the positive impact of such entities on human health, affirming their pivotal role in contributing to the advancement and effectiveness of health-care interventions. Furthermore, this paper provides an opportunity for scholars and researchers actively engaged in the pertinent field to obtain comprehensive additional insights, serving as a guiding resource for their academic endeavors.
Technological advancements, especially the introduction of Industry 4.0, have impacted every facet of human existence. Technologies like automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the like have helped improve life and livelihood. The healthcare sector has been exploring the use of these technologies in improving medical services and operations. The sector has leveraged some of these technologies in the areas of decision-making, early and enhanced disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment, drug prescription and administration, caregiving, training, and research. The chapter starts with an introduction to the concept of automation and robotics. It then explains different areas of applications of automation and robotics in the healthcare industry. The challenges as well as future applications of these modern technologies are also discussed. Summarily, automation and robotics have greatly improved healthcare (SDG 3) delivery, especially in enabling easy access to expert medical services from remote locations, rehabilitation, surgery, support services, disease diagnosis and patient monitoring to mention a few.
We try to raise the 9 smart cities in Asia. If at this time we have started to move towards the Industrial Revolution (IR) 5.0 and Society 5.0, then the Smart City concept has also developed and is now focused on human development and accommodating the values of the local community.
So, it is understandable if there are cities that then build an image as "Islamic Smart City", "Buddhist Smart City", "Hindu Smart City" or others. Even though they may not label themselves with their beliefs, but values of the majority of their beliefs will color Smart City dominantly.
When it comes to unlocking opportunities for inclusive growth and tackling climate change, the study finds that smart cities labeled with or without religious beliefs are equally concerned.
This chapter explores the ethical challenges and issues that have arisen from the use of AI and robotics in public health within the context of East Asia. This is a region of the world that is often ahead in the adoption of new technologies yet its deeply held philosophical and religious values raise unique challenges that might not be fully appreciated in the West. In the goal for a truly global approach, these challenges ought to be understood and the divergent perspectives on them incorporated into the design of ethical policies for AI and robotics in public health. This chapter discusses novel ways technology is being used in East Asia to help solve public health problems and the ethical issues they are raising. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the ethics of AI and robotics from three major worldviews that have been deeply influential in shaping the ethical values of the region: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism.
In recent years, robotic pets have been used by many countries worldwide as a method for treating behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). The seal robot PARO was loaned intermittently to a distributed layout elderly housing with services over a seven-month period, during which it was observed that three residents with cognitive dysfunctions showed improvements in their BPSD and the nursing care load of the staff was reduced during the periods when PARO was present. The objective of this study is to investigate, through a case study, the effects of intermittent interaction with PARO on those with cognitive dysfunctions and the staff workers. The short version of the Dementia Behavior Disturbance Scale (DBD-13) was used as the medical outcome index, and the KJ method was used to analyze the qualitative data, such as staff reports and interviews. The results show that the DBD-13 total scores reduced during the periods when PARO was present and increased during the periods when PARO was absent. The KJ method yielded similar findings. The use of DBD-13 and the KJ method complemented the results of each other and increased the persuasive power of the findings. By using the KJ method, it was further determined that the workload of the staff was reduced, allowing them to recuperate, which reconfirmed the value of PARO. Further case studies will be undertaken in the future with the aim of constructing a methodology for implementing case studies.
Humanoid robots generated by inspiring by human appearances and abilities have became essential in human society to improve the quality of their life. All over the world, there have been many researchers who have focused on humanoid robots to develop the capabilities of humanoid robots. Generally, humanoid robot systems include mechanisms of decision making and information processing. Because of the uncertainty behind decision making and information processes, fuzzy sets are used most commonly. This study investigates a comprehensive literature review about humanoid robots that presents the recent technological developments and the theories associated with fuzzy set models. The basic principles and concepts of fuzzy sets for humanoid robots are presented.
Why would humanoid caring robots (HCRs) need consciousness? Because HCRs need to be gentle like human beings. In addition, HCRs need to be trusted by their patients, and have a shared understanding of patients' life experiences, their illnesses, and their treatments. HCRs need to express “competency as caring” to naturally convey their nursing as healing to patients and their families. HCRs should also have self-consciousness and express their emotions without needing inducement by persons' behaviors. Artificial “brains” and artificial consciousness are therefore necessary for HCRs. The purpose of this article was to explore humanoid consciousness and the possibilities of a technologically enhanced future with HCRs as participants in the care of human persons.
Mental healthcare of elderly people is a common problem in advanced countries. Recently, high technology has developed robots for use not only in factories but also for our living environment. In particular, human-interactive robots for psychological enrichment, which provide services by interacting with humans while stimulating their minds, are rapidly spreading. Such robots not only simply entertain but also render assistance, guide, provide therapy, educate, enable communication, and so on. Robot therapy, which uses robots as a substitution for animals in animal-assisted therapy and activity, is a new application of robots and is attracting the attention of many researchers and psychologists. The seal robot named Paro was developed especially for robot therapy and was used at hospitals and facilities for elderly people in several countries. Recent research has revealed that robot therapy has the same effects on people as animal therapy. In addition, it is being recognized as a new method of mental healthcare for elderly people. In this mini review, we introduce the merits and demerits of animal therapy. Then we explain the human-interactive robot for psychological enrichment, the required functions for therapeutic robots, and the seal robot. Finally, we provide examples of robot therapy for elderly people, including dementia patients.
An entertainment robot was used as occupational therapy instead of animal-assisted therapy to avoid any danger or injury to the patient and maintain cleanliness. This study compared the effectiveness of a robot animal, AIBO, with a toy.
AIBO is made of metal and responds to spoken commands. We demonstrated AIBO to severely demented elderly people living in a geriatric home and observed their reactions.
The most frequent reactions to AIBO consisted of looking at, communicating with, and caring for AIBO. The patients recognized that AIBO was a robot. However, once we dressed AIBO, the patients perceived AIBO as either a dog or a baby. Nevertheless, the presentation of AIBO resulted in positive outcomes for the severe dementia patients, including increased communication between the patients and AIBO.
AIBO was clearly an effective rehabilitation tool in the treatment of severely demented patients.
In Japan, humanoid robots has been introduced in the medical and elderly care environment. The application program of Care Prevention Gymnastics Exercises for Pepper (Pepper-CPGE) made by Xing Company, Japan is a body-brain gymnastics recreation program for 40 minutes tailored to the elderly's functional level. It consists of moving, watching/healing, and playing. “Move the body” exercise and other active range of motion activities are done according to the music. Pepper-CPGE was introduced as a clinical trial at the Mifune hospital, beginning in May 2018. At the units where clinical trials are done, 80% of the patients are with mental illness diagnosis with decreased physical functions often moving by wheelchair only. When Pepper-CPGE was introduced, the following changes were observed : (1) communication between patients and nurses during rehabilitation care using Pepper-CPGE was increased ; (2) patients wereinteractive, engaged, and actively participated in the Care Prevention Gymnastic Exercises using Pepper-CPGE ; (3) patients had fun and enjoyed talking to Pepper-CPGE. Interventions using Pepper-CPGE appear to be an effective rehabilitation strategy to increase engagement and participation of elderly patients who require long-term care and rehabilitation. J. Med. Invest. 66 : 50-53, February, 2019
Healthcare for older adults is a significant problem in Japan and in other developed countries. To address this problem, healthcare robots, now realized, can assist and meet healthcare and welfare practice demands. The aim of this study was to clarify characteristics of Transactive Relationships (TR) in older adults, in care workers as intermediaries, and Pepper (Softbank Robotics Corporation) a robot equipped with the application program of Care Prevention Gymnastics Exercises for Pepper (Pepper-CPGE) made by Xing Company, Japan. Data were collected by observing TRs between Pepper and older patients in Kagawa Prefecture,Japan between from May 8 to August 1 2018. The Transactive Relationship Theory of Nursing (TRETON) was used to explain how Pepper-CPGE led the exercises with older adults as physical exercises. The role of PepperCPGE was to provide instructions for the older adults in performing gymnastic exercises. During the exercising activity, care workers were present to prevent falls of the older adults, and to operate and observe the video presentations by supporting and caring for the participants. In using Pepper-CPGE, it was possible to change the role of the healthcare providers, originally thought to contribute to increasing the quality of older adult care and their rehabilitation. J. Med. Invest. 66 : 46-49, February, 2019
In Japan, the population is expected to decrease. Moreover, the proportion of elderly people living alone among the elderly population is expected to increase for both men and women. Therefore, the demand for elderly care is increasing year by year. In this paper, we aim at making environment in which elderly people can receive interactive guidance, and reducing the burden on medical staff such as caregivers and nurses. So, we design a patient education by ARCS model which classifies concepts related to learning motivation, and consider to utilize a communication robot "Pepper".
In nursing homes, various recreations are carried out in order to prevent the progression of a dementia.But effective recreations have not designed, because the relationship between the effect and the content of recreation has not been proved quantitatively. In this paper, we proposed how to design the content of recreation according to the inferior capability of each elderly person. In order to propose it, we develop the relationship model between an action factor during a recreation and an ability of elderly person by papers review. This model means what types of action the elderly person should do in order to improve the inferior ability. And we develop the correlation model between abilities (memorization, emotion control, cognition, etc). We designed the content of recreation with animal-robot by using these2models. As a result of case study in nursing home, we confirmed the effect of the designed recreation, because the target ability of designed recreation is improved according to increase the occurrence rate of the target action factor. Moreover, this result means that the validity of developed2models has been proved partly. The achievement of this paper is to develop the framework for the content design of recreation to meet abilities of each elderly person.
Cynthia Breazeal here presents her vision of the sociable robot of the future, a synthetic creature and not merely a sophisticated tool. A sociable robot will be able to understand us, to communicate and interact with us, to learn from us and grow with us. It will be socially intelligent in a humanlike way. Eventually sociable robots will assist us in our daily lives, as collaborators and companions. Because the most successful sociable robots will share our social characteristics, the effort to make sociable robots is also a means for exploring human social intelligence and even what it means to be human.
Breazeal defines the key components of social intelligence for these machines and offers a framework and set of design issues for their realization. Much of the book focuses on a nascent sociable robot she designed named Kismet. Breazeal offers a concrete implementation for Kismet, incorporating insights from the scientific study of animals and people, as well as from artistic disciplines such as classical animation. This blending of science, engineering, and art creates a lifelike quality that encourages people to treat Kismet as a social creature rather than just a machine. The book includes a CD-ROM that shows Kismet in action.
Bradford Books imprint
The purpose of this study was to clarify the efficacy of behavioral, stress and immunological evaluation methods in music therapy (MT) with elderly patients with senile dementia. The MT group consisted of 8 elderly patients with dementia and the control group included 8 similarly matched patients. A total of 25 sessions of music therapy were conducted for one hour, twice each week for three months. The Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), Gottfries-Brane-Steen Scale (GBS), and Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (Behave-AD) were used to evaluate behavioral changes. Saliva Chromogranin A (Cg A) and Immunoglobulin A (Ig A) were used to assess changes in stress and immunological status, respectively. The results of the study were as follows: 1. In GBS, the mean score of "different symptoms common in dementia" improved significantly after MT. 2. The mean Behave-AD score of "paranoid and delusional ideation" was also significantly improved (p<0.05) after the intervention. 3. In the 25th session, mean saliva Cg A was significantly decreased after MT (p<0.05). IgA was slightly increased prior to intervention. Our results suggest that a combination of behavioral, stress and immunological evaluation methods were valuable for assessing changes that occurred during MT for elderly patients with dementia.
This study reports systematic relations between intonations and impressions of speakers' personality. Fundamental frequencies (F0) of stimuli were transformed to emphasize pitch modulations, and unfamiliar intonations for native speakers were generated by reversing pitches. In the first experiment, 66 university students were asked to rate personality images on speech stimuli with the Big Five categories. In the second experiment, 54 participants rated the same stimuli regarding mimetic words, which describe personality characteristics. Results showed that emphases of intonation contours independently affected personality impression traits. Relations between the degree of emphases in intonations and the personality traits were described by simple or reverse U-shaped curves, whose peak positions and slopes were varied by traits. By combining these characteristic curves, the study could restore the personality image as a whole via speech. Although participants evaluated speeches with unfamiliar intonation as obscure talks, the speakers were viewed easygoing and optimistic. The results indicate our tolerance toward the people, who speak non-native or unfamiliar dialect accent.
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