Huggable integrated socially assistive robots: exploring the potential and challenges for sustainable use in long-term care contexts.

ABSTRACT: With ageing populations and decreasing numbers of care personnel, care technologies such as socially assistive robots offer innovative solutions for healthcare workers and older adults, supporting ageing in place. Among others, SARs are used for both daytime structure support and social companionship, particularly benefiting people with dementia by providing structure in earlier stages of the disease and comfort in later stages. This research introduces the concept of Huggable Integrated SARs (HI-SAR): a novel subtype of SARs combining a soft, comforting, huggable form with integrated socially assistive functionalities, such as verbal prompts for daytime structure, interactive companionship, and activity monitoring via sensor data, enabling the possibility of more context-aware interaction

SUBMITTER: Hofstede BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12569430 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature