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Robot-Delivered Cognitive Stimulation Games for Older Adults: Usability and Acceptability Evaluation

Authors:

Norina Gasteiger,

Chiara Gasteiger,

Christopher Lee,

Bruce A. Macdonald,

Elizabeth BroadbentAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI), Volume 10, Issue 4

Article No.: 33, Pages 1 - 18

https://doi.org/10.1145/3451882

Published: 14 July 2021 Publication History

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Abstract

Cognitive stimulation games delivered on robots may be able to improve cognitive functioning and delay decline in older adults. However, little is known about older adults’ in-depth opinions of robot-delivered games, as current research primarily focuses on technical development and one-off use. This article explores the usability, acceptability, and perceptions of community-dwelling older adults towards cognitive games delivered on a robot that incorporated movable interactive blocks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants at the end of a 12-week cognitive stimulation games intervention delivered entirely on robots. Participants were 10 older adults purposively sampled from two retirement villages. A framework analysis approach was used to code data to predefined themes related to technology acceptance (perceived benefits, satisfaction, and preference), and usability (effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction). Results indicated that cognitive games delivered on a robot may be a valuable addition to existing cognitive stimulation activities. The robot was considered easy to use and useful in improving cognitive functioning. Future developments should incorporate interactive gaming tools, the use of social anthropomorphic robots, contrasting colour schemes to accommodate macular degeneration, and cultural-specific imagery and language. This will help cater to the preferences and age-related health needs of older adults, to ultimately enhance usability and acceptability.

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Index Terms

Robot-Delivered Cognitive Stimulation Games for Older Adults: Usability and Acceptability Evaluation
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Artificial intelligence
    1. Knowledge representation and reasoning
      1. Cognitive robotics
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods
      1. Usability testing

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction

ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction Volume 10, Issue 4

December 2021

282 pages

EISSN:2573-9522

DOI:10.1145/3476005

Editors:
Odest Chadwicke Jenkins
University of Michigan, USA
,
Selma Sabanovic
Indiana University, USA

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Copyright © 2021 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Publication History

Published: 14 July 2021

Accepted: 01 February 2021

Revised: 01 November 2020

Received: 01 July 2020

Published in THRI Volume 10, Issue 4

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Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Korea) under Industrial Technology Innovation Program

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.112269
Halicka KGola A(2024)Gerontechnology ranking using the TOPSIS methodsEngineering Management in Production and Services10.2478/emj-2024-000716:1(93-103)Online publication date: 11-Apr-2024
https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2024-0007
Simão HBernardino AGuerreiro TForlizzi JGrollman DBroadbent EJu WSoh HWilliams T(2024)Beyond Assistance: Robots Aligned with Older Adults' ValuesCompanion of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction10.1145/3610978.3638357(145-147)Online publication date: 11-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610978.3638357
Wang PLi H(2024)Acceptability Assessment of an Executive Function Training Game FISHERMAN for Older AdultsGames for Health Journal10.1089/g4h.2022.017713:1(25-32)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2024
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Gollasch DWeber G(2023)What to Do Next? An Activity Scheduling Schema for Social Assistance Robots for Older AdultsHuman Aspects of IT for the Aged Population10.1007/978-3-031-34917-1_21(288-306)Online publication date: 23-Jul-2023
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