Quality of Experience Assessment of a User Interface Designed for an Elder Care Telepresence Robotic System
Respond by: 9th July 2021
Background
Several studies have shown that telepresence robots can be an effective tool to reduce social isolation in older adults, to provide them remote companionship and support and to help monitoring their physical and mental wellbeing. This study intends to equip a commercially available social robot with a telepresence system to use it as a telepresence robot.
This study focusses on assessing usability and user experience of the robot-mediated interaction using a cloud-based social telepresence robotic system. Analysis will be conducted on the developed telepresence application for the social telepresence robot from the perspective of the remote users (caregivers/professionals/relatives, i.e. the driver of the telepresence robot), and how well they can interact with the remote user by using the robot system.
Tasks involved
Participants to this study will be asked to use a web application we have developed, to connect to one of our robots at the Robotic Assisted Living Testbed (RALT) at Heriot-Watt University. Participants will use the user interface to connect and chat a remotely located user through the telepresence robot, control the robot and move around with it, and use some telehealth features which will be available on the interface. After the completion of the study, participants will be asked to provide feedback on the gained experience through a short questionnaire. If you chose to take part in the study, this will involve that you will be assigned as a participant of a social robotic experiment involving the telepresence system. It will take approximately 30-40 minutes to conduct the experiment and to gather your feedback. Details regarding the experiment and a consent form will be sent to the participants in the form of an information sheet.
Who can take part?
You can participate in this study if you are an adult and you fall in at least one of the following categories:
- You have some experience as a care professional
- Have worked in the elder care sector
- Provide care and support to your elder peer/relative/friend.
- Have some experience with telecare and robotics
- Research experience with welfare technologies
You cannot take part if:
You cannot take part in this study if you fall in one of the following categories:
- Children or teenagers
- Vision or auditory impairment
Where and when will the study take place?
The study will take place online. You can participate in this study from your preferred location. You will need a laptop/pc and a stable internet connection. Prior to the study, you will be sent a link to enter our platform and learn the key instructions for using and testing our robotic system.
What do participants get for taking part in this study?
Participation to this study is voluntary, your experience will be highly valuable in our research on Human Robot Interaction (HRI) and Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). Unfortunately we cannot provide any renumeration for your participation.
Personal privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity
- We will only use your personal data for the purpose(s) of the study and the information letter which will be provided to you if you are willing to participate.
- We will process your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the data protection legislation (the GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation and Personal Data Act).
- Only the project researcher and the supervisor at the Heriot-Watt University will have access to the personal data.
How can I take part?
Please get in touch with the researchers running the study:- Md Rakin Sarder
ms414@hw.ac.uk - Mauro Dragone
m.dragone@hw.ac.uk
Who has reviewed the study?
This research has been reviewed by the Ethics Committee in the School of Engineering & Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, project number 1258.Privacy Notice
If you would like to find out more about what Heriot-Watt University (the data controller) does with your personal data and your rights under privacy law, please read our information for participants in academic research projects, or contact our Data Protection Officer, by post at Data Protection Officer, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH14 4AS, or by email at dataprotection@hw.ac.uk.
The CARE Group is affiliated with Heriot-Watt University, the National Robotarium, and the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics. The National Robotarium and the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics are collaborations between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh.