Assistive Robot Enabled Service Architecture to Support Home-Based Dementia Care

Abstract

Like most of the developed countries, Australia's population is ageing. In this paper the authors report on deployment of a socially assistive robot (Matilda) based multi-layer service architecture to support People with Dementia (PwD) in home-based care. The robots deliver a range of services in an emotionally engaging manner based on the lifestyle of PwD. The assistive social robots have been deployed in several Australian households over a six-month period. The results of trial demonstrate that multi-layer service architecture with personalized services and human-like communication modalities of Matilda have the ability of breaking technology barriers, providing sensory enrichment and social connectivity to the PwD as well as augmenting their good memories and providing respite to the partners.