User perspectives on emotionally aligned social robots for older adults and persons living with dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Socially assistive robots are devices designed to aid users through social interaction and companionship. Social robotics promise to support cognitive health and aging in place for older adults with and without dementia, as well as their care partners. However, while new and more advanced social robots are entering the commercial market, there are still major barriers to their adoption, including a lack of emotional alignment between users and their robots. Affect Control Theory (ACT) is a framework that allows for the computational modeling of emotional alignment between two partners.

Methods

We conducted a Canadian online survey capturing attitudes, emotions, and perspectives surrounding pet-like robots among older adults (n = 171), care partners (n<

SUBMITTER: Dosso JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9248047 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature