Applying a Multimodal User Interface Development Framework on a Domestic Service Robot

Quality of life and active aging of an ever-increasing number of elderly people is becoming an essential objective for today's societies. To this end, the domain of assistive robotics is continuously researching and developing new robotic solutions for assisted living. One of the research challenges in this scope is the design of appropriate user interfaces for the elderly. This paper discusses the use of a multimodal user interface (UI) development framework for developing elderly-friendly robotic applications in the scope of the EU funded project RAMCIP. The project aims to develop a novel home robotic assistant system for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and at early stages of Alzheimer Disease (AD). The paper describes the UI framework, its application in RAMCIP and the initial experiences regarding the use of the framework gathered from the preliminary pilot trials of the project with actual patients.