Robotic Versus Human Coaches for Active Aging: An Automated Social Presence Perspective

Abstract

This empirical study compares elderly people's social perception of human versus robotic coaches in the context of an active and healthy aging program. In evaluating hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions of exergames (i.e., video games integrating physical activity), we consider elderly people's judgments of the warmth and competence (i.e., social cognition) of their assigned coach (human vs. robot). The field experiments involve 58 elderly participants in the real-life context. Leveraging a mixed-method approach that combines quantitative and qualitative data, we show that (1) socially assistive robots activate feelings of (automated) social presence (2) human coaches score higher on perceived warmth and competence relative to robotic coaches, and (3) social cognition affects elderly people's experience (i.e., emotional and cognitive reactions and behavioral intentions) with respect to exergames. These findings can inform future developments and design of social robots and systems for their smoother inclusion into elderly people's social networks. In particular, we recommend that socially assistive robots take complementary roles (e.g., motivational coach) and assist human caregivers in improving elderly people's physical and psychosocial well-being.

Exercising with Baxter: preliminary support for assistive social-physical human-robot interaction

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Robotic transformative service research: deploying social robots for consumer well-being during COVID-19 and beyond

“…Prior research shows that social robots can function as emotional and social actors (Čaić et al , 2019; de Graaf et al , 2015) with a clear transformative mission. They demonstrate social behavior, following the norms of human social interaction (e.g.…”

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The Space Between: Nature and Machine Heuristics in Evaluations of Organisms, Cyborgs, and Robots

“…Although ontological-category cueing is rarely explicitly engaged as a heuristic-triggering stimulus, studies invoke ontological categories implicitly in their designs through the compared reactions to organisms and machines. For instance, people consider humans and robots differently with respect to perceived warmth and competence, 21 credibility, 22 and moral responsibility, 23 but not always for subconscious processes such as following gaze 24 and mentalizing. 25 However, clear boundaries between organism and machine do not always exist, as in the notion of the uncanny-senses of eeriness felt when agents approach but fall short of high-fidelity humanness.…”