The pilot study of group robot intervention on pediatric inpatients and their caregivers, using ‘new aibo’

Abstract

The study on robot-assisted therapy in a pediatric field has not been applied sufficiently in clinical settings. The purpose of this pilot study is to explore the potential therapeutic effects of a group robot intervention (GRI), using dog-like social robot (SR) ‘aibo’ in pediatric ward. GRI by aibo was conducted for those children with chronic illness (127 in total) who are hospitalized in National Centre for Child Health and Development (NCCHD), and their caregivers (116 in total), from March to April 2018. The observer made structured behavioural observation records, based on which qualitative research on the features of their words and conducts, were carried out. As a result, first, during the GRI, about 2/3 of total expression by children were positive, while about 1/4 were negative or inappropriate. On the other hand, as seen in the ‘change’ group, those children who had originally responded with negative expression eventually came to express positive expression, while getting involved in a ternary relationship or participating in a session more than once. Secondly, as for the expression from the caregivers during the GRI, active expressions such as ‘participation’ and ‘exploration’ accounted for the 2/3, while 1/3 turned out to be rather placid expressions such as ‘watch over’ or ‘encourage.’Conclusion: There has not been any precedent study on the features of words and conducts expressed by patients and their caregivers during the GRI by aibo. The outcome suggests that aibo could possibly be used as a tool for group robot-assisted therapy in the pediatric treatment setting. What is Known:• The study on robot-assisted therapy in a pediatric field has only just begun.• Though many kinds of social robot have been reportedly used so far, none has yet to be applied in clinical settings What is New:• Our study revealed the features of words and behaviour expressed by the patients and their caregivers, when dog-like social robot ‘aibo’ was used for a group robot intervention in the pediatric ward.• The outcome suggests that aibo could possibly be used as a tool for group robot-assisted therapy in the pediatric treatment setting.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Effects of artificial intelligence aibo intervention on alleviating distress and fear in children

“…Tanaka et al [ 5 ] conducted a pilot study of group robot intervention (GRI) using the AI robot aibo (Fig. 1 ) on hospitalized chronically ill children (127 in total) and their caregivers (116 in total) and observed the language and behavioral characteristics of the children and their caregivers.…”

The robot assisted therapy using “aibo.”

“…1b). Based on the findings from our pilot study, 2 we hypothesized that the psychological effects of RAT, such as alleviating loneliness and projecting emotions, may reduce stress during hospitalization, control aggressive behaviors and impulses, and increase motivation for exercise therapy.…”

Designing Man’s New Best Friend: Enhancing Human-Robot Dog Interaction through Dog-Like Framing and Appearance

“…Dog-like robots have become more commonplace both in people’s personal lives and in their workplaces. For example, the social robot Aibo can alleviate loneliness [ 1 ], serve as a companion [ 2 , 3 ], or be used as a tool for group therapy [ 4 ]. More recently, the Air Force adopted four-legged, dog-like robots with autonomous capabilities that can assist with patrolling and guarding remote parts of operational bases, thus freeing up personnel to focus on other tasks [ 5 ].…”