TY - GEN
T1 - The Attitude of Elderly and Young Adults Towards a Humanoid Robot as a Facilitator for Social Interaction
AU - Sinnema, Lizzy
AU - Alimardani, Maryam
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The main objective of this research was to gain insight in the attitude that groups of elderly and young students have towards social robots. A total of 52 participants (24 elderly vs. 28 students) took part in a short-term interaction with a humanoid social robot. In small groups of two to four people, they engaged in a conversation with a Nao robot. Their attitude was measured before and after the interaction using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) questionnaire. Furthermore, the role of the robot as a facilitator for conversation was assessed by observing the interaction between individuals after the robot was removed. This research explored the use of social robots as a means to improve socialization between individuals rather than aiming to replace the human contact. Results from the questionnaire and an additional observational analysis showed a positive attitude towards the robot and the interaction from both age groups. After the interaction, elderly perceived the robot as significantly more useful than students, which could be assigned to a difference in needs and expectations they had from it. Furthermore, anxiety towards the robot for both groups decreased after the interaction. Future research can investigate the effect of long-term interaction with a similar robot. In the long-term, social robots could possibly be deployed to decrease loneliness, a common issue among elderly.
AB - The main objective of this research was to gain insight in the attitude that groups of elderly and young students have towards social robots. A total of 52 participants (24 elderly vs. 28 students) took part in a short-term interaction with a humanoid social robot. In small groups of two to four people, they engaged in a conversation with a Nao robot. Their attitude was measured before and after the interaction using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) questionnaire. Furthermore, the role of the robot as a facilitator for conversation was assessed by observing the interaction between individuals after the robot was removed. This research explored the use of social robots as a means to improve socialization between individuals rather than aiming to replace the human contact. Results from the questionnaire and an additional observational analysis showed a positive attitude towards the robot and the interaction from both age groups. After the interaction, elderly perceived the robot as significantly more useful than students, which could be assigned to a difference in needs and expectations they had from it. Furthermore, anxiety towards the robot for both groups decreased after the interaction. Future research can investigate the effect of long-term interaction with a similar robot. In the long-term, social robots could possibly be deployed to decrease loneliness, a common issue among elderly.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076582618&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-35888-4_3
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-35888-4_3
M3 - Conference contribution
SN - 9783030358877
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
SP - 24
EP - 33
BT - Social Robotics - 11th International Conference, ICSR 2019, Proceedings
A2 - Salichs, M.A.
A2 - Ge, S.S.
A2 - Barakova, E.I.
A2 - Cabibihan, J.-J.
A2 - Wagner, A.R.
A2 - Castro-González, A.
A2 - He, H.
PB - Springer
T2 - 11th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2019
Y2 - 26 November 2019 through 29 November 2019
ER -