Robot response behaviors to accommodate hearing problems

Abstract

One requirement that arises for a social (semi-autonomous telepresence) robot aimed at conversations with the elderly, is to accommodate hearing problems. In this paper we compare two approaches to this requirement; (1) moving closer, mimicking the leaning behavior commonly observed in elderly with hearing problems, (2) turning up the volume, which is a more mechanical solution. Our findings with elderly participants show that they preferred the turning up of the volume, since they rated it significantly higher.