Human-Robot User Studies in Eldercare: Lessons Learned

Abstract

This paper describes our experiences in collecting user data on humanrobot interaction in nursing homes for the elderly. Learnings from two experiments were used to develop guidelines to support human-robot user studies with elderly users, in particular for experiments in an eldercare institution. Our experiences show that this demands a very strict organization, full cooperation by nursing personnel and extreme attention to informing the participants both before and during the experiment. Furthermore, first analysis of data from the studies suggests that social abilities in a robotic interface contribute to feeling comfortable talking to it and invite elders to be more expressive.