The Pepper Robot in Healthcare: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Humanoid robots are increasingly being used in a number of domains. This paper focuses on reviewing the use of the Pepper humanoid robot in healthcare. This robot has begun to be used in a range of settings and combines speech recognition with artificial intelligence to create meaningful interactions with users. In this paper we describe a scoping review conducted to assess the type and range of applications Pepper has been used for. The focus of the review was to determine what the uses of Pepper have been, how it has impacted healthcare and what the challenges and limitations are of using Pepper in healthcare. The results of the review indicate that Pepper has successfully been applied to an increasing range of areas which include its use in dementia care, neurodevelopmental disorders, chronic illness education, caregiver shortages as well as for cognitive stimulation therapy.