Design of an Assistive Robot for Infant Mobility Interventions

Vinoo, Ashwin; Case, Layne; Zott, Gabriela R.; Vora, Joseline Raja; Helmi, Ameer; Logan, Samuel W.; Fitter, Naomi T.

doi:10.1109/ro-man50785.2021.9515415

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In the past decades different kinds of robotic toys, including socially assistive robots (SAR) have made their way into play spaces ( Lund, 1999 ; Michaud, Duquette and Nadeau, 2003 ; Bian et al, 2020 ). In a closely related work by our study team using a complementary set of annotated data compared to the current manuscript, we observed greater engagement of children with a SAR that was mobile in the play area, and provided visual, tactile, and auditory rewards to children, as compared to SAR stationary conditions ( Vinoo et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Children spent more time standing and had a tendency to sit less in the intervention phase compared to the baseline phase. A parallel segment of this study with the SAR reports that children look at and touch the robot more when it is mobile ( Vinoo et al, 2021 ). It is possible that children were captivated by the novelty of the SAR and its rewards, hence spent more time standing and engaging with it as it approached them and their peers ( Parten, 1932 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…There was a significant increase (∼11.5%, Z = −2.52; p = 0.012) in interaction with the robot in the intervention phase compared to baseline phase. These interactions included touching, following, looking at, pushing/pulling, or going towards the robot or its rewards ( Vinoo et al, 2021 ). There was also a significant decrease (∼6%, Z = −2.40; p = 0.017) in play with pretend-play toys in the intervention phase as compared to baseline phase ( Figure 4 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of a Socially Assistive Robot on Physical Activity, Social Play Behavior, and Toy-Use Behaviors of Children in a Free Play Environment: A Within-Subjects Study

et al. 2021

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Background: Play is critical for children’s physical, cognitive, and social development. Technology-based toys like robots are especially of interest to children. This pilot study explores the affordances of the play area provided by developmentally appropriate toys and a mobile socially assistive robot (SAR). The objective of this study is to assess the role of the SAR on physical activity, play behavior, and toy-use behavior of children during free play.Methods: Six children (5 females, Mage = 3.6 ± 1.9 years) participated in the majority of our pilot study’s seven 30-minute-long weekly play sessions (4 baseline and 3 intervention). During baseline sessions, the SAR was powered off. During intervention sessions, the SAR was teleoperated to move in the play area and offered rewards of lights, sounds, and bubbles to children. Thirty-minute videos of the play sessions were annotated using a momentary time sampling observation system. Mean percentage of time spent in behaviors of interest in baseline and intervention sessions were calculated. Paired-Wilcoxon signed rank tests were conducted to assess differences between baseline and intervention sessions.Results: There was a significant increase in children’s standing (∼15%; Z = −2.09; p = 0.037) and a tendency for less time sitting (∼19%; Z = −1.89; p = 0.059) in the intervention phase as compared to the baseline phase. There was also a significant decrease (∼4.5%, Z = −2.70; p = 0.007) in peer interaction play and a tendency for greater (∼4.5%, Z = −1.89; p = 0.059) interaction with adults in the intervention phase as compared to the baseline phase. There was a significant increase in children’s interaction with the robot (∼11.5%, Z = −2.52; p = 0.012) in the intervention phase as compared to the baseline phase.Conclusion: These results may indicate that a mobile SAR provides affordances through rewards that elicit children’s interaction with the SAR and more time standing in free play. This pilot study lays a foundation for exploring the role of SARs in inclusive play environments for children with and without mobility disabilities in real-world settings like day-care centers and preschools.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of a Socially Assistive Robot on Physical Activity, Social Play Behavior, and Toy-Use Behaviors of Children in a Free Play Environment: A Within-Subjects Study

et al. 2021

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A Model Child? Behavior Models for Simulated Infant-Robot Interaction

Helmi

Koenig

Fitter

2022

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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The Child Factor in Child–Robot Interaction: Discovering the Impact of Developmental Stage and Individual Characteristics

Rudenko,

Lilienthal

et al. 2024

Int J of Soc Robotics

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Social robots, owing to their embodied physical presence in human spaces and the ability to directly interact with the users and their environment, have a great potential to support children in various activities in education, healthcare and daily life. Child–Robot Interaction (CRI), as any domain involving children, inevitably faces the major challenge of designing generalized strategies to work with unique, turbulent and very diverse individuals. Addressing this challenging endeavor requires to combine the standpoint of the robot-centered perspective, i.e. what robots technically can and are best positioned to do, with that of the child-centered perspective, i.e. what children may gain from the robot and how the robot should act to best support them in reaching the goals of the interaction. This article aims to help researchers bridge the two perspectives and proposes to address the development of CRI scenarios with insights from child psychology and child development theories. To that end, we review the outcomes of the CRI studies, outline common trends and challenges, and identify two key factors from child psychology that impact child-robot interactions, especially in a long-term perspective: developmental stage and individual characteristics. For both of them we discuss prospective experiment designs which support building naturally engaging and sustainable interactions.

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Design of an Assistive Robot for Infant Mobility Interventions

Cited by 8 publications

References 27 publications

Influence of a Socially Assistive Robot on Physical Activity, Social Play Behavior, and Toy-Use Behaviors of Children in a Free Play Environment: A Within-Subjects Study

Influence of a Socially Assistive Robot on Physical Activity, Social Play Behavior, and Toy-Use Behaviors of Children in a Free Play Environment: A Within-Subjects Study

A Model Child? Behavior Models for Simulated Infant-Robot Interaction

The Child Factor in Child–Robot Interaction: Discovering the Impact of Developmental Stage and Individual Characteristics

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