Older Adults’ Opinion on Social Robot as Companion

Abstract

During the last decade, attention towards using social robots as a potential technology to improve the older adults’ life quality has increased. Loneliness, caregiving, medication management, and activities of daily living are some of the topics that researchers are trying to address with the social robots.Although research has uncovered important factors in acceptance of social robots, older adults, especially the oldest old population who are 85 years old and older, have been underrepresented in these studies. In this study, a panel of older adults 85 years of age and older were recruited to address this gap by understanding their attitudes towards and experiences with smart technologies and social robots.The panel engagement included three parts. First, participants completed a questionnaire about technology adoption, trust in technology, and acceptance of social robots. An in-person meeting was then convened with the participants. During the meeting, participants were presented an overview and a demonstration of social robots and smart virtual assistants. Lastly, participants discussed their opinions about technology in general and social robots specifically in smaller focus groups assigned based on level of technology experience.Results show that older adults’ acceptance of social robots as companions was positively impacted by their experience of seeing the robots and their limited interaction with it. However, this impact only has been seen in early and middle-of-the-road adopter groups. Findings have been discussed with the role of important variables on older adults’ acceptance of social robots as their companions.