Evaluation of a small socially-assistive humanoid robot in intelligent homes for the care of the elderly.

The ageing population phenomenon is pushing the design of innovative solutions to provide assistance to the elderly. In this context a socially–assistive robot can act as a proactive interface in a smart-home environment, providing multimodal communication channels and generating positive feelings in users. The present paper reports results of a short term and a long term evaluation of a small socially assistive humanoid robot in a smart home environment. Eight elderly people tested an integrated smart–home robot system in five real–world scenarios. Six of the participants experienced the system in two sessions over a two week period; the other two participants had a prolonged experience of eight sessions over a three month period. Results showed that the small humanoid robot was trusted by the participants. A cross–cultural comparison showed that results were not due to the cultural background of the participants. The long term evaluation showed that the participants might engage in an emotional relationship with the robot, but that perceived enjoyment might decrease over time.