Latest Research on Human-Robot Interaction

Recently, I am deeply interested in biography work for dementia care, which I learned about in the CaringRobots project. Biography work is a therapeutic approach that involves exploring a person’s life history and experiences to gain insight into their current emotional and psychological state. I am wondering if companion robots could be of help here.

Today a Master student defended her work, where she developed an interactive diary solution for the Qbo One robot. The solution is hard-coded, which means that it is pre-programmed with a set of responses to various stimuli. Two other students are currently exploring the opportunity space of the Vector robot to serve as a companion, that also creates a „persona“ of you through the interaction.

In a recent blog post for derstandard I reflected on what the opportunities, challenges, and dangers of these ideas are…above all of the rapid developments in generative AI.