Can the IROMEC robot support play in children with severe physical disabilities? A pilot study

Heuvel, Renée J.F. van den; Lexis, Monique A. S.; Witte, Luc de

doi:10.1097/mrr.0000000000000200

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The number of participants in this study was sufficient to gain an idea of usability and feasibility aspects and to gather worthwhile insights on the application of ZORA. Compared with an earlier study with the IROMEC robot ( Van den Heuvel et al , 2016a ), the sessions with ZORA were also highly dependent on the use of the robot by the professional and the professionals’ creativity. This led to a high diversity in the robot sessions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…The children were asked to indicate their feelings (like, neutral, dislike) by pointing out smileys after every session. The playfulness scale and indication of smileys have been used successfully before in former studies with the IROMEC robot ( Bernd et al , 2010 ; van den Heuvel et al , 2016a ).…”

Section: Participants and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The children enjoyed playing with IROMEC and the professionals indicated that robots may be attractive for this target group. Professionals reported meaningful application possibilities for IROMEC for this target group; however, the robot appeared to have limited adaptability, expandability and technical stability ( Van den Heuvel et al , 2016a ). The IROMEC robot was developed for research purposes and is not a commercially available product.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robot ZORA in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities: a pilot study

Heuvel

Lexis

Witte

2017

International Journal of Rehabilitation Research

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The aim of this study was to explore the potential of ZORA robot-based interventions in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities. A two-centre explorative pilot study was carried out over a 2.5-month period involving children with severe physical disabilities with a developmental age ranging from 2 to 8 years. Children participated in six sessions with the ZORA robot in individual or in group sessions. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data on aspects of feasibility, usability, barriers and facilitators for the child as well as for the therapist and to obtain an indication of the effects on playfulness and the achievement of goals. In total, 17 children and seven professionals participated in the study. The results of this study show a positive contribution of ZORA in achieving therapy and educational goals. Moreover, sessions with ZORA were indicated as playful. Three main domains were indicated to be the most promising for the application of ZORA: movement skills, communication skills and cognitive skills. Furthermore, ZORA can contribute towards eliciting motivation, concentration, taking initiative and improving attention span of the children. On the basis of the results of the study, it can be concluded that ZORA has potential in therapy and education for children with severe physical disabilities. More research is needed to gain insight into how ZORA can be applied best in rehabilitation and special education.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Participants and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robot ZORA in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities: a pilot study

Heuvel

Lexis

Witte

2017

International Journal of Rehabilitation Research

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“…Studies show promising results when it comes to letting children with severe physical disabilities work with robots and technology. The IROMEC robot, a mobile robot which is programmed to play simple games with children such as a turn-taking game or the follow-me game, is one example of such an application [4]. Another example is the PLAYROB robot, which enables children with severe physical disabilities to play with standard toys (LEGO) [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ZORA Robot Based Interventions to Achieve Therapeutic and Educational Goals in Children with Severe Physical Disabilities

Heuvel

Lexis

Witte

2019

Int J of Soc Robotics

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This study aimed (1) to examine the contribution of robot ZORA in achieving therapeutic and educational goals in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities, and (2) to discover the roles professionals attribute to robot ZORA when it is used in robot-based play interventions in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities. A multi-centre mixed methods study was conducted among children with severe physical disabilities in two centres for rehabilitation and one school for special education. The participating children played with robot ZORA six times during a period of 6 weeks, in individual or group sessions. Quantitative data were gathered about the contribution of ZORA in reaching individual goals for all of the participating children, using the Individually Prioritized Problem Assessment (IPPA). Playfulness was measured with a visual analogue scale (0-10) and children could indicate whether they liked the sessions using a scale consisting of smileys. Video-stimulated recall interviews were used to collect qualitative data about the different roles of ZORA. In total, 33 children and 12 professionals participated in the study. The results of the IPPA showed a significant contribution of ZORA to the achievement of (children's) individual goals. The data gathered using the IPPA during the ZORA-based interventions showed that the largest contributions of robot ZORA lie in the domains of movement skills and communication skills. Playfulness of the sessions was 7.5 on average and 93% of the sessions were evaluated as 'enjoyable' by the children. Overall, ZORA could positively contribute to the achievement of individual goals for children with severe physical disabilities. According to the participating professionals the most promising roles in which robot ZORA can be used are motivator, rewarder or instructor.

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“…[8][9][10][11][12] Therefore, in the design of a social robot; research objectives as well as behavioral and environmental parameters dictate various physical properties (i.e. humanoids, system-like, 13 animalistic). In our study, the distinctive health conditions of the children who will interact with the robot mandate specific features to be considered along with other factors in the morphology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arash: A social robot buddy to support children with cancer in a hospital environment

Meghdari

Shariati

Alemi

et al. 2018

Proc Inst Mech Eng H

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This article presents the thorough design procedure, specifications, and performance of a mobile social robot friend Arash for educational and therapeutic involvement of children with cancer based on their interests and needs. Our research focuses on employing Arash in a pediatric hospital environment to entertain, assist, and educate children with cancer who suffer from physical pain caused by both the disease and its treatment process. Since cancer treatment causes emotional distress, which can reduce the efficiency of medications, using social robots to interact with children with cancer in a hospital environment could decrease this distress, thereby improving the effectiveness of their treatment. Arash is a 15 degree-of-freedom low-cost humanoid mobile robot buddy, carefully designed with appropriate measures and developed to interact with children ages 5-12 years old. The robot has five physical subsystems: the head, arms, torso, waist, and mobile-platform. The robot's final appearance is a significant novel concept; since it was selected based on a survey taken from 50 children with chronic diseases at three pediatric hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Founded on these measures and desires, Arash was designed, built, improved, and enhanced to operate successfully in pediatric cancer hospitals. Two experiments were devised to evaluate the children's level of acceptance and involvement with the robot, assess their feelings about it, and measure how much the robot was similar to the favored conceptual sketch. Both experiments were conducted in the form of storytelling and appearance/performance evaluations. The obtained results confirm high engagement and interest of pediatric cancer patients with the constructed robot.

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Can the IROMEC robot support play in children with severe physical disabilities? A pilot study

Cited by 20 publications

References 6 publications

Robot ZORA in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities: a pilot study

Robot ZORA in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities: a pilot study

ZORA Robot Based Interventions to Achieve Therapeutic and Educational Goals in Children with Severe Physical Disabilities

Arash: A social robot buddy to support children with cancer in a hospital environment

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