Robotic objects, also called non-humanoid robots, are interactive objects that react to human behavior
From a design perspective, they are not confined to human or animal form, and provide a great freedom of design and aesthetics
in this work we present a novel robotic object, designed according to evidence-based design guidelines
In a user-centered design process, we focus on the growing population of older adults that have the potential
to reach "successful aging" - leading healthy, independent, and active life
Reaching successful aging is known to have both cognitive and physical advantages
However, not many technologies are designed to support and promote successful aging
A common emotional challenge in reaching successful aging is related to older adults' subjective feeling of not being seen
typically experienced as feeling invisible, set aside, and unacknowledged by others
We wanted to explore if minimal movement of a non-humanoid robot is sufficient to evoke a feeling of being seen among healthy older adults
We present the design, implementation, and lab study of the novel robotic object, measuring the effect on healthy older adults’
"willingness to accept" and their "feeling of being-seen"
We would like to invite Dina Walker, the undergraduate research assistant who worked on the project, to present the full research
This work started with a previous study by our lab team, a need analysis study with 30 healthy older adults
in which we mapped their attitudes and preferences towards robots
In that work, we presented three design guidelines for robotic companions that are designed specifically for healthy older adults
1. Valid primary function
robots should be designed with a primary function that is signiﬁcant or healthy older adults’ well-being. Companionship can not be that function
2. Authentic appearance
the robot’s appearance should reﬂect the object’s function, and should not pretend to be something it is not
3. Social cues as a secondary function
social interaction should be integrated as a secondary function, not as the main one
Previous work includes studies of technology for older adults, from companion robots to tangible interfaces
There are several works in the field of companion robots
Most of these robots are humanoid or zoomorphic, designed as "loveable creatures" with life-like appearance
Studies with these robots showed they are effective for clinical populations
but healthy older adults reject them and do not consider companionship as a valid function for themselves
In the TUI field, several prototypes were created with older adults
Blossom is a prototype designed as two vases with ﬂowers and family photos, allowing the transmission of voice messages between older adults
and their family members. The shape of the ﬂowers indicates that a message was sent
The Messaging Kettle is a prototype evaluated in a workshop with older participants
designed to enhance connectedness between family members through voice-messages
These TUI prototypes were an inspiration from a design perspective
Studies with non-humanoid robots showed it is possible to evoke a social experience using non-verbal gestures
Seminal studies with everyday robotic objects, such as the automatic door and the "mechanical ottoman"
examined how people respond to a variety of movements
Participants consistently perceived the objects' movement as social cues with human-like characteristics including cognition and intent
In our own previous work, the "Greeting Machine", we showed that an abstract-looking robot with minimal movement is perceived in a social context
Participants attributed positive or negative social interpretation to "approach" and "avoid" gestures of the abstract robotic object
In our most recent study, we showed that social association is an automatic cognitive process that could not be avoided
These studies motivated our hypothesis, that minimal movement of a non-humanoid robot can evoke a feeling of "being seen" among healthy older adults
We started our design process, based on the three design guidelines
Function that is not companionship Healthy older adults reject robots with a primary function of companionship
Based on interviews with 10 healthy older adults, we identified the following activities as meaningful and popular among this population
watching the news, playing card games, and playing word games to preserve cognitive ability
We focused on a word game, and tested three types of word games in small pilots with older adults, the Anagram-style game was favored by participants
To support the "authentic appearance" guidelines, we designed the robot as an abstract geOmetric form to prevent associations with human-like or animal-like forms
The design process included sketches and cycles of rapid prototyping from low fidelity foam mock-ups
to high-fidelity mechatronic prototypes that were tested with a representative user
The form was designed so it will not be perceived as childish, and will be appropriate in size for an older adult’s home
The final design was a base with four pillars, each pillar representing a small set of letters
When the pillars are rotated, 2, 3, or 4-letter words can be assembled
and the last, social cues as a secondary function
Each of the four pillars is controlled by two motors, making it possible to perform a downward "Lean" gesture
and a rotation "Gaze" gesture. In social psychology, "Gaze" and "Lean" gestures play an instrumental role in human-human interaction
they can increase feelings of friendliness and interest in an interaction, as well as empathy and rapport
The animator started with a free exploration of movement, that in her view represent behaviors such as welcoming, following, or excitement
The range of movement was deliberately limited, as we were intrigued to identify the absolute minimal movement that can still be perceived as a social experience
Then, we conducted a gesture elicitation study with four professional dancers. The dancers stood in a row to simulate the object's form
and were asked to perform specific behaviors while minimizing feet and hand movement
The animator analyzed the dancers’ body language and mapped the core movement characteristics to the restricted robot morphology
To evaluate our prototype, we conducted a lab study with 39 cognitively-intact older adults
as a ﬁrst step towards a future in-situ study at older adults’ homes
The goals of the lab study were similar to our research questions
Can minimal gestures of a non-humanoid robotic object evoke a feeling of "being seen"?
Does the primary function influence the effect?
Does the primary function influence participants’ willingness to accept such a robot into their home?
We decided on a between-participants experimental design, to measure the inﬂuence of the robot’s primary function
Participants were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions
The only difference between conditions was the defined role of the robot, and a slight adaptation in the robot's design to match the role.
In the Companion-Function condition the robot was introduced as a robotic object designed to be a type of companion for people at their own home"
The design Adaptation included blue, red, yellow and white tiles
In the Game-Function condition the robot was introduced as a robotic object designed to be a game that stimulates thinking"
The design Adaptation included tiles with letters
and in the No-Function condition the robot was introduced as a robotic object The design Adaptation were gray and blue colored tiles
To evaluate the social experience of "being seen", we conducted a semi-structured interview and analyzed it using thematic coding
To evaluate the "willingness to accept" we used a quantitative acceptance questionnaire
Participants’ were unaware of the WoZ control and perceived the robotic object’s responses as autonomous
Before entering the room, participants were shown a picture of the robotic object, and then the speciﬁc function was described
When a participant entered the room, the robotic object reacted with a "Welcome" gesture
while the older adult was invited to sit in front of the robot and explore it with their hands
After this initial exploration, the participant performed a short task, aimed to enhance the robot’s function
In the Game-Function condition participants were asked to rotate the pillars to create words, and replace a specific letter with a different one
In the Companion-Function condition: participants were asked to rotate the pillars to form a personally-meaningful color arrangement
and to replace the tiles with different color ones
In the No-Function condition: participants were asked to rotate the pillars and then replace the gray tiles with blue tiles to explore the tile replacement mechanism
Participants in this condition could not choose the extra tiles’ color
When the task was completed, the participants were asked to move to the left to fill a questionnaire and then move back
to leave the room in order to explore another prototype and then re-enter
to create additional opportunities to experience the gestures
The coding led to two main themes: The first, terms and expressions related to the feeling of "being seen"
This theme was similar across conditions
The second, Terms and expressions related to participants' willingness to accept the robot to their homes
This theme was different across conditions
Almost all Participants(32/39), in all conditions, described the robot’s gestures using terms such as "paying attention"
"attending", "caring", "listening", and "seeing", collectively associated with feelings of "being-seen"
This indicates that participants in all conditions associated the minimal gestures of the non-humanoid robot with a social context
The quotes ranged from mechanical-focused quotes to emotionally rich quotes
"He probably has sensors, so he can move and make me feel that he's paying attention to me"
or "there is someone there, seeing me, listening to me" and
"I live alone now, and something like this can appease my loneliness if, for example, the robot will welcome me every morning when I come out of the kitchen with my coffee"
Participants’ willingness to accept the robot was highly associated with the robot’s function
In the Game-function condition: 8/13 participants accepted the robot
, stating it is "engaging", "a thinking challenge", and "interesting" comparing it to crossword puzzles or rummikub
4/13 participants did not feel that the game was challenging enough for them and stated that it is more relevant for children who are learning
In the Companion-function condition: 12/13 participants rejected the robotic object, stating it is appropriate for someone else, or rejecting it completely
One accepted the robot, but stated that he will change it and add new features
In the No-function condition: 6/13 were trying to understand what the function is
and explicitly stated that they do not understand the robot’s purpose
2/13 intuitively gave it a social companion function, and rejected it
5/13 intuitively gave it a meaningful function, and were more willing to accept the robot
For example, a meditative object, a calming object, an object for supporting concentration, or a decorative object
It was interesting to see that participants’ own interpretation of the robot’s function directly inﬂuenced their willingness to accept it
We compared the acceptance ratings of participants in the Companion-Function and Game-Function conditions
The No-function participants ratings were not included, as there was no single-function to compare
The analysis shows signiﬁcantly higher acceptance ratings in the Game-Function condition
We presented the design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel non-humanoid robot
designed to increase feelings of "being-seen" among healthy older adults
Our ﬁndings suggest that even minimal non-verbal gestures, performed by a non-humanoid robot that can not directly mimic human behavior
are successfully perceived by healthy older adults as a social experience
Participants associated that social experience with feelings of "being-seen"
Furthermore, the robot’s primary function had a signiﬁcant impact on acceptance
When the robot’s function was perceived as companion, healthy older adults rejected it
When the function was perceived as a cognitive game, their willingness to accept significantly increased
Our findings are limited to the constraints of a lab study, to the specific design we evaluated
and to the specific functions we compared: companion vs. cognitive game
future work should evaluate the same social experience at older adults homes, in the context of their daily lives
To conclude, we suggest that
Even minimal gestures of a non-humanoid robot can be perceived as a meaningful social experience
In sum, non-humanoid robots have a great potential to contribute to successful aging
as companion robots that take various forms and designs, and do not pretend to be artificial beings
This work was done by an interdisciplinary team of researchers
designers, dancers, an animator, engineers, and students at the media innovation lab, at IDC Herzliya
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