Integration of a Social Robot in a Pedagogical and Logopedic Intervention with Children: A Case Study

The acceptance of the potential use of social robots for children with autism spectrum disorder by Indonesian occupational therapists: a mixed methods study

PURPOSE

Social robots have shown positive effects in treating children with autism spectrum disorder. The development of social robots in Indonesia has enabled their potential use in occupational therapy. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the acceptance of the potential use of social robots by Indonesian occupational therapists in clinical practice.

METHODS

This study employed a mixed methods explanatory sequential design. An adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model was utilised for the quantitative phase. The questionnaire explored the acceptance of social robots. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews with reflexive thematic analysis were conducted. The second phase aimed to explain the reasons behind the quantitative results and factors related to the acceptance of social robots in therapy.

RESULTS

Occupational therapists showed high interest in using social robots in their sessions, as indicated by the significant positive relationship between performance expectancy and potential use. Three influential factors affecting acceptance emerged in the qualitative phase: occupational therapists' characteristics and competencies, social robots and occupational therapy interventions, and environmental influence.

CONCLUSIONS

Indonesian occupational therapists have shown interest in using social robots. However, there are challenges regarding the practical application of social robots concerning individual differences in the factors that influence acceptance.

Human Perception of the Emotional Expressions of Humanoid Robot Body Movements: Evidence from Survey and Eye-Tracking Measurements

The emotional expression of body movement, which is an aspect of emotional communication between humans, has not been considered enough in the field of human-robot interactions (HRIs). This paper explores human perceptions of the emotional expressions of humanoid robot body movements to study the emotional design of the bodily expressions of robots and the characteristics of the human perception of these emotional body movements. Six categories of emotional behaviors, including happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, and disgust, were designed by imitating human emotional body movements, and they were implemented on a Yanshee robot. A total of 135 participants were recruited for questionnaires and eye-tracking measurements. Statistical methods, including K-means clustering, repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA), Friedman's ANOVA, and Spearman's correlation test, were used to analyze the data. According to the statistical results of emotional categories, intensities, and arousals perceived by humans, a guide to grading the designed robot's bodily expressions of emotion is created. By combining this guide with certain objective analyses, such as fixation and trajectory of eye movements, the characteristics of human perception, including the perceived differences between happiness and negative emotions and the trends of eye movements for different emotional categories, are described. This study not only illustrates subjective and objective evidence that humans can perceive robot bodily expressions of emotions through only vision but also provides helpful guidance for designing appropriate emotional bodily expressions in HRIs.

A Bio-Inspired Dopamine Model for Robots with Autonomous Decision-Making

Decision-making systems allow artificial agents to adapt their behaviours, depending on the information they perceive from the environment and internal processes. Human beings possess unique decision-making capabilities, adapting to current situations and anticipating future challenges. Autonomous robots with adaptive and anticipatory decision-making emulating humans can bring robots with skills that users can understand more easily. Human decisions highly depend on dopamine, a brain substance that regulates motivation and reward, acknowledging positive and negative situations. Considering recent neuroscience studies about the dopamine role in the human brain and its influence on decision-making and motivated behaviour, this paper proposes a model based on how dopamine drives human motivation and decision-making. The model allows robots to behave autonomously in dynamic environments, learning the best action selection strategy and anticipating future rewards. The results show the model's performance in five scenarios, emphasising how dopamine levels vary depending on the robot's situation and stimuli perception. Moreover, we show the model's integration into the Mini social robot to provide insights into how dopamine levels drive motivated autonomous behaviour regulating biologically inspired internal processes emulated in the robot.

User Experience Design for Social Robots: A Case Study in Integrating Embodiment

Social robotics is an emerging field with a high level of innovation. For many years, it was a concept framed in the literature and theoretical approaches. Scientific and technological advances have made it possible for robots to progressively make their way into different areas of our society, and now, they are ready to make the leap out of the industry and extend their presence into our daily lives. In this sense, user experience plays a fundamental role in achieving a smooth and natural interaction between robots and humans. This research focused on the user experience approach in terms of the embodiment of a robot, centring on its movements, gestures, and dialogues. The aim was to investigate how the interaction between robotic platforms and humans takes place and what differential aspects should be considered when designing the robot tasks. To achieve this objective, a qualitative and quantitative study was conducted based on a real interview between several human users and the robotic platform. The data were gathered by recording the session and having each user complete a form. The results showed that participants generally enjoyed interacting with the robot and found it engaging, which led to greater trust and satisfaction. However, delays and errors in the robot's responses caused frustration and disconnection. The study found that incorporating embodiment into the design of the robot improved the user experience, and the robot's personality and behaviour were significant factors. It was concluded that robotic platforms and their appearance, movements, and way of communicating have a decisive influence on the user's opinion and the way they interact.

A Systematic Literature Review of Decision-Making and Control Systems for Autonomous and Social Robots

In the last years, considerable research has been carried out to develop robots that can improve our quality of life during tedious and challenging tasks. In these contexts, robots operating without human supervision open many possibilities to assist people in their daily activities. When autonomous robots collaborate with humans, social skills are necessary for adequate communication and cooperation. Considering these facts, endowing autonomous and social robots with decision-making and control models is critical for appropriately fulfiling their initial goals. This manuscript presents a systematic review of the evolution of decision-making systems and control architectures for autonomous and social robots in the last three decades. These architectures have been incorporating new methods based on biologically inspired models and Machine Learning to enhance these systems’ possibilities to developed societies. The review explores the most novel advances in each application area, comparing their most essential features. Additionally, we describe the current challenges of software architecture devoted to action selection, an analysis not provided in similar reviews of behavioural models for autonomous and social robots. Finally, we present the future directions that these systems can take in the future.

Utilizing an Emotional Robot Capable of Lip-Syncing in Robot-Assisted Speech Therapy Sessions for Children with Language Disorders

This study scrutinizes the impacts of utilizing a socially assistive robot, the RASA robot, during speech therapy sessions for children with language disorders. Two capabilities were developed for the robotic platform to enhance children-robot interactions during speech therapy interventions: facial expression communication (containing recognition and expression) and lip-syncing. Facial expression recognition was conducted by training several well-known CNN architectures on one of the most extensive facial expressions databases, the AffectNet database, and then modifying them using the transfer learning strategy performed on the CK+ dataset. The robot's lip-syncing capability was designed in two steps. The first step was concerned with designing precise schemes of the articulatory elements needed during the pronunciation of the Persian phonemes (i.e., consonants and vowels). The second step included developing an algorithm to pronounce words by disassembling them into their components (including consonants and vowels) and then morphing them into each other successively. To pursue the study's primary goal, two comparable groups of children with language disorders were considered, the intervention and control groups. The intervention group attended therapy sessions in which the robot acted as the therapist's assistant, while the control group only communicated with the human therapist. The study's first purpose was to compare the children's engagement while playing a mimic game with the affective robot and the therapist, conducted via video coding. The second objective was to assess the efficacy of the robot's presence in the speech therapy sessions alongside the therapist, accomplished by administering the Persian Test of Language Development, Persian TOLD. According to the first scenario, playing with the affective robot is more engaging than playing with the therapist. Furthermore, the statistical analysis of the study's results indicates that participating in robot-assisted speech therapy (RAST) sessions enhances children with language disorders' achievements in comparison with taking part in conventional speech therapy interventions.

The Social Robot and the Digital Physiotherapist: Are We Ready for the Team Play?

Motivation: We are witnessing two phenomena. The first is that the physiotherapist is increasingly becoming a figure that must interact with Digital Health. On the other hand, social robots through research are improving more and more in the aspects of social interaction thanks also to artificial intelligence and becoming useful in rehabilitation processes. It begins to become strategic to investigate the intersections between these two phenomena. Objective: Therefore, we set ourselves the goal of investigating the consensus and opinion of physiotherapists around the introduction of social robots in clinical practice both in rehabilitation and assistance. Procedure: An electronic survey has been developed focused on social robot-based rehabilitation and assistance and has been submitted to subjects focused on physiotherapy sciences to investigate their opinion and their level of consent regarding the use of the social robot in rehabilitation and assistance. Two samples of subjects were recruited: the first group (156 participating subjects, 79 males, 77 females, mean age 24.3 years) was in the training phase, and the second (167 participating subjects, 86 males, 81 females, mean age 42.4 years) group was involved in the work processes. An electronic feedback form was also submitted to investigate the acceptance of the proposed methodology. Results: The survey showed a consistency of the results between the two samples from which interesting considerations emerge. Contrary to stereotypes that report how AI-based devices put jobs at risk, physiotherapists are not afraid of these devices. The subjects involved in the study believe the following: (a) social robots can be reliable co-workers but will remain a complementary device; (b) their role will be of the utmost importance as an operational manager in their use and in performance monitoring; (c) these devices will allow an increase in working capacity and facilitate integration. All those involved in the study believe that the proposed electronic survey has proved to be a useful and effective tool that can be useful as a periodic monitoring tool and useful for scientific societies. Conclusions: The evolution of social robots represents an unstoppable process as does the increase in the aging of the population. Stakeholders must not look with suspicion toward these devices, which can represent an important resource, but rather invest in monitoring and consensus training initiatives.

A Case Study of a Robot-Assisted Speech Therapy for Children with Language Disorders

The aim of this study was to explore the potential of using a social robot in speech therapy interventions in children. A descriptive and explorative case study design was implemented involving the intervention for language disorder in five children with different needs with an age ranging from 9 to 12 years. Children participated in sessions with a NAO-type robot in individual sessions. Qualitative methods were used to collect data on aspects of viability, usefulness, barriers and facilitators for the child as well as for the therapist in order to obtain an indication of the effects on learning and the achievement of goals. The main results pointed out the affordances and possibilities of the use of a NAO robot in achieving speech therapy and educational goals. A NAO can contribute towards eliciting motivation, readiness towards learning and improving attention span of the children. The results of the study showed the potential that NAO has in therapy and education for children with different disabilities. More research is needed to gain insight into how a NAO can be applied best in speech therapy to make a more inclusive education conclusions.

The Social Robot in Rehabilitation and Assistance: What Is the Future?

This commentary aims to address the field of social robots both in terms of the global situation and research perspectives. It has four polarities. First, it revisits the evolutions in robotics, which, starting from collaborative robotics, has led to the diffusion of social robots. Second, it illustrates the main fields in the employment of social robots in rehabilitation and assistance in the elderly and handicapped and in further emerging sectors. Third, it takes a look at the future directions of the research development both in terms of clinical and technological aspects. Fourth, it discusses the opportunities and limits, starting from the development and clinical use of social robots during the COVID-19 pandemic to the increase of ethical discussion on their use.