The influence of social presence on acceptance of a companion robot by older people

• Autores: Marcel Heerink, Ben Kröse, Vanessa Evers, Bob Wielinga
• Localización: JoPha: Journal of Physical Agents, ISSN-e 1888-0258, Vol. 2, Nº. 2, 2008, págs. 33-40
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • If robotic companions are to be used in the near future by aging adults, they have to be accepted by them. In the process of developing a methodology to measure, predict and explain acceptance of robotic companions, we researched the influence of social abilities, social presence and perceived enjoyment. After an experiment (n=30) that included collecting usage data and a second experiment (n=40) with a robot in a more and less sociable condition we were able to confirm the relevance of these concepts. Results suggest that social abilities contribute to the sense of social presence when interacting with a robotic companion and this leads, through higher enjoyment to a higher acceptance score.