How Older Adults Connect with Robots: A Closer Look

A recent study dug into how older adults interact with socially assistive robots (SARs). The research focused on 191 adults aged 65 and above. It found that 40. 8% of them actively engaged with a robot named Hyodol. The study used surveys, behavioral logs, and conversation data to understand these interactions. The research identified three distinct types of users. First, there were the Social Engagers. These individuals valued emotional connections, even if they had low self-esteem. Second, the Independent Reflectors were self-sufficient and preferred minimal social interaction. Lastly, the Emotionally Expressive Users formed strong emotional bonds with the robot. Key factors predicting engagement included education level, life satisfaction, and how often they used the robot early on. For Social Engagers, religious affiliation and marital status were important indicators. Independent Reflectors were influenced by their smartphone skills and overall life satisfaction. Emotionally Expressive Users were affected by their subjective health status. The study used advanced methods like discriminant analysis and K-means clustering. These techniques helped identify the different user profiles and what drove their interactions. The findings suggest that older adults have diverse ways of connecting with robots. This could have big implications for how we design and use SARs in the future.