The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly
In recent years, communication robots aiming to offer mental support to the elderly have attracted increasing attention. Dialogue systems consisting of two robots could provide the elderly with opportunities to hold longer conversations in care homes. In this study, we conducted an experiment to com...
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doaj-8d52bd524bed4e0599352f3cbaa55a2e2021-03-22T17:53:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Robotics and AI2296-91442021-03-01810.3389/frobt.2021.633045633045The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the ElderlyToshiaki Nishio0Yuichiro Yoshikawa1Kazuki Sakai2Takamasa Iio3Mariko Chiba4Taichi Asami5Yoshinori Isoda6Hiroshi Ishiguro7Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, JapanDepartment of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, JapanDepartment of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, JapanFaculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, JapanNTT DOCOMO, Inc., Tokyo, JapanNTT Media Intelligence Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Kanagawa, JapanNTT DOCOMO, Inc., Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, JapanIn recent years, communication robots aiming to offer mental support to the elderly have attracted increasing attention. Dialogue systems consisting of two robots could provide the elderly with opportunities to hold longer conversations in care homes. In this study, we conducted an experiment to compare two types of scenario-based dialogue systems with different types of bodies—physical and virtual robots—to investigate the effects of embodying such dialogue systems. Forty elderly people aged from 65 to 84 interacted with either an embodied desktop-sized humanoid robot or computer graphic agent displayed on a monitor. The elderly participants were divided into groups depending on the success of the interactions. The results revealed that (i) in the group where the robots responded more successfully with the expected conversation flow, the elderly are more engaged in the conversation with the physical robots than the virtual robots, and (ii) the elderly in the group in which robots responded successfully are more engaged in the conversation with the physical robots than those in the group in which the robots responded with ambiguous responses owing to unexpected utterances from the elderly. These results suggest that having a physical body is advantageous in promoting high engagement, and the potential advantage appears depending on whether the system can handle the conversation flow. These findings provide new insight into the development of dialogue systems assisting elderly in maintaining a better mental health.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.633045/fullhuman-robot interactionelderly peopleconversational robotmultiple robotembodiment of robotphysical robot |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Toshiaki Nishio Yuichiro Yoshikawa Kazuki Sakai Takamasa Iio Mariko Chiba Taichi Asami Yoshinori Isoda Hiroshi Ishiguro |
spellingShingle |
Toshiaki Nishio Yuichiro Yoshikawa Kazuki Sakai Takamasa Iio Mariko Chiba Taichi Asami Yoshinori Isoda Hiroshi Ishiguro The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly Frontiers in Robotics and AI human-robot interaction elderly people conversational robot multiple robot embodiment of robot physical robot |
author_facet |
Toshiaki Nishio Yuichiro Yoshikawa Kazuki Sakai Takamasa Iio Mariko Chiba Taichi Asami Yoshinori Isoda Hiroshi Ishiguro |
author_sort |
Toshiaki Nishio |
title |
The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly |
title_short |
The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly |
title_full |
The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly |
title_fullStr |
The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Effects of Physically Embodied Multiple Conversation Robots on the Elderly |
title_sort |
effects of physically embodied multiple conversation robots on the elderly |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
issn |
2296-9144 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
In recent years, communication robots aiming to offer mental support to the elderly have attracted increasing attention. Dialogue systems consisting of two robots could provide the elderly with opportunities to hold longer conversations in care homes. In this study, we conducted an experiment to compare two types of scenario-based dialogue systems with different types of bodies—physical and virtual robots—to investigate the effects of embodying such dialogue systems. Forty elderly people aged from 65 to 84 interacted with either an embodied desktop-sized humanoid robot or computer graphic agent displayed on a monitor. The elderly participants were divided into groups depending on the success of the interactions. The results revealed that (i) in the group where the robots responded more successfully with the expected conversation flow, the elderly are more engaged in the conversation with the physical robots than the virtual robots, and (ii) the elderly in the group in which robots responded successfully are more engaged in the conversation with the physical robots than those in the group in which the robots responded with ambiguous responses owing to unexpected utterances from the elderly. These results suggest that having a physical body is advantageous in promoting high engagement, and the potential advantage appears depending on whether the system can handle the conversation flow. These findings provide new insight into the development of dialogue systems assisting elderly in maintaining a better mental health. |
topic |
human-robot interaction elderly people conversational robot multiple robot embodiment of robot physical robot |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.633045/full |
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