Telepresence Robots as Assistive Technology

Transcription

1 Telepresence Robots as Assistive Technology Kate Tsui University of Massachusetts Lowell Mountain View, CA 1

2 Acknowledgements Google Anybots and VGo Communications Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center National Science Foundation (IIS , IIS ) 2

3 "%!$"""$"""% ($"""$"""% &$"""$"""% +$"""$"""% -./01.%2345%6.7.1/08.94:1%63;:<313=.;%13739>%39%:% -./01.%2345%6.7.1/08.94:1%63;:<313=.;%13739>%39%:9% 39;=4?=/9% &'$"""% (!"$!')% Seniors living in a nursing home *'%4/%,+%A.:@;% /7.@%,'%A.:@;% '*+$)",% **($*&&% Seniors with difficulty going outside the home and not living in an ins6tu6on #'%4/%*+%A.:@;% *'%4/%,+%A.:@;% /7.@%,'%A.:@;%!$)#*$)+'% ($)"#$,*+% &$**+$(&+% Data from 2000 US Census and 2003 Olmstead report 1.6 million seniors lived in nursing homes; 90% of seniors do not live in nursing homes 3 of 35 million seniors, 20.4% reported difficulty going outside the home (e.g., going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor s office)

4 Motivation Isolation can lead to feelings of overall sadness which can lead to additional health issues [Findlay 2003] A negative correlation exists between loneliness and physical independence for people with disabilities [Hopps et al. 2001] Children with learning disabilities drew themselves as socially isolated from their classmates [Cohn 1977] For people with special needs (i.e., seniors and people with disabilities), a person s quality of life may be impacted when he/she is no longer able to participation in every day activities with family and friends. 4

5 Social Engagement Through Technology Internet [Bradley and Poppen, 2003] Robots, e.g.: Paro [Shibata et al. 2001] PaPeRo [Osada et al. 2006] KASPAR [Robins et al. 2009] 5

6 Giraff Technologies Giraff University of Sherbrooke s Telerobot Beer and Takayama [2011] note that there is a difference between companion robots and robots designed to promote social interaction between people as telepresence robots can do. 6

7 Enabling Factor: Telecommuting Began during mid-1990s dot com boom [Joshi et al. 2002] 2.9 million employees primarily work from their home office [World at Work 2009] 17.2 million occasionally work from home [World at Work 2009] Average employee telecommutes 2 days per week [Cisco 2009] 7

8 Enabling Factor: Adoption of the Internet %#!!" %!!!" $#!!" $!!!" #!!"!" &'()*#" +',)*-"./0)*1" 234)*5" &'()*5" +',)**"./0)!!" 234)!$" &'()!$" +',)!%"./0)!6" 234)!7" &'()!7" +',)!#"./0)!-" 234)!1" &'()!1" +',)!5"./0)!*" 234)$!" &'()$!" Data from Miniwatts Marketing Group As of 2008, 80.6% of US homes have a personal computer, and of those 91.6% had an Internet connection 8

9 PEBBLES 2011 Coinciding with the adoption of the internet, there was the development of devices that leverage data transfer through the internet -- TELEPRESENCE ROBOTS 9 Remote students for children with disabilities to attend their regular classes while they were in the hospital

10 PEBBLES 2002 Co-Worker 2011 irobot.com Other examples 10

11 PEBBLES 2002 Co-Worker 2003 RP intouchhealth.com For the purposes of this talk, telepresence robots will be defined as mobile robots with two-way audio and the ability for the operator to see a video stream of the remote location. 11 In Touch Health 2003: trials at rehabilitation and eldercare facilities; 2004: hospitals

12 PEBBLES 2002 Co-Worker 2003 RP Giraff TiLR 2011 frednikgohar.com headthere.com 12

13 anybots.com 11 Tex ai QB VG o TiL R Gir aff Co -W ork RP - 7 er ES BL PE B willowgarage.com vgocom.com 13 ad-hoc water cooler conversations at office visiting family in eldercare centers visiting manufacturing facilities

14 14

15 User Needs Assessment Beer and Takayama [2011] 12 seniors (ages 63-88) Implication that seniors are willing to operate Active telepresence robots Go outside, attend concerts/sporting events, visit museum/theatre Passive The researchers found that in post-experiment interviews, the participants discussed significantly more concerns when visited by a person through the telepresence robot (as in the first scenario) than the condition when they operated the Texai telepresence robot (as in this second scenario) 15

16 Studying Telepresence Systems at Google Study 1: Initial user impression (n=24) Study 2: Remote user interactions (n=6) Study 3: Video comparisons (n=24) Study 4: Walking conversations (n=24) Study 5: Bystander impressions (n=10) Anybots and VGo robots (prototype) 16

17 NYC 14 MTV MTV Reston Atlanta LON PIT 4 MTV MTV MTV 18 SEA ZRH MTV Santa Monica Team 1: engineering; MTV(hub)-NYC(hub)-Reston(spoke)*; daily stand up; 60 minute meeting 1x week Team Team Team Team Team 2: 3: 4; 5; 6: non-engineering; MTV(hub)-London(hub)*; 60 minute 1x week engineering; MTV(hub)-Seattle(spoke)-Zurich*(spoke); 60 minute 1x week; review non-engineering; MTV(spoke)-Atlanta*(spoke); 60 minute 1x; 1-1 engineering; MTV(hub)-PITT*(hub); 60 minute 1x non-engineering; MTV(hub)-Santa Monica*(spoke); 60 minute every other week

18 Overall Experience Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Team 3 Team 4 Team 5 Team 6 More Involved Actively Engaged Effective Meetings Continue to Use Team 1 - not shown, but also reported positive experiences in post-experiment interview 18 See two robot drivers had very positive experiences, and two negative -- why?

19 Overall Experience NYC 14 MTV Reston MTV 18 SEA ZRH 2 2 MTV 3 7 Telepresence Robots as Assistive Technology Santa Monica 1 6 April 26, Telepresence robot operators in a spoke position reported having the most positive experiences Team 1: MTV(9)-NYC(14)-Reston*(1) -- used to be located with teammates Team 6: MTV(7)-SantaMonica*(1) -- used to be located with teammates People asked more question. I felt like I was in the room again. People in MTV looked at the robot as if it were me. They gestured with their hands towards the robot and made eye contact. They remembered I was part of the meeting.

20 if not hallway conversations, conversation must pause while new location is found; otherwise could move to an Insights People want to remain connected Telepresence robots can provide value in ad-hoc interactions Team 1, 6 used to be located with hub; group had a teammate move away and wanted to have coffee with her 20 Team 1, 3 work from home for part of the week 2 separate teammates from Dublin asked to have a telepresence robot as a portal one person works primarily in San Francisco and one day in MTV; daily meetings in both locations but has to miss one when in other location

21 Hypothesis We believe that similar benefits can be gained by people with special needs who wish to engage in social interaction but cannot be physically present with their family and friends. 21

22 Research Questions How can people with disabilities who live away from their families use telepresence robots? What autonomous robot navigation behaviors are necessary and how should they be designed to function in social situations? How can a user interface to control a telepresence robot be designed for people with special needs in a simple and minimal aesthetic? 22 user centered design; consultation with occupational therapist and potential clients; focus on the larger user experience

23 23 Future work: distance range sensor

24 therefore, now discrete commands 3 modes 24 can use mouse, arrow keys, or array of jellybean switches in initial evaluation, we found that continuous robot movement was an issue with our target population s mental model of the robot due to the latency between issuing the commands, the robot receiving the commands, the robot executing the command, and the video updating to show the robot moving.

25 previous work at Google, we found that 83% of able- bodied novice users (20 of 24 participants) and 79% (19 of 24 participants) thought that it would be useful if the telepresence robots were able to autonomously walk with a person and go to a specified destination, respectively. 25

26 Lyndon learned to navigate his new school using a paper copy of a fire drill map 26 maps for each operator can be customized with visual support photographs, images, and icons to show their purpose

27 Pilot Study Our goal is to establish if our target population finds benefit from socially engaging with their families through the telepresence robot as compared to a standard video conferencing software on a laptop. 2 sessions interacting through the telepresence robot, 2 sessions interacting through the laptop 27 Drive mode is autonomous; follow a person and go to room are currently implemented by a wizard.

28 Pilot Study: Inclusion Criteria Students at the school, inpatient clients from the Brain Injury Center, or participants in the residential program at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center (CMRC) Between the ages of 7 to 75 Have a condition that significantly limits their ability to travel and maintain contact with important individuals in their regular environment 28

29 Pilot Study: Inclusion Criteria Be able to communicate (verbally or using augmentative communication techniques) Internet bandwidth sufficient to operate the VGo robot including in-bound and out-bound audio and video Be within driving distance of CMRC (located in Greenfield, NH) or UMass Lowell 29

30 Participants: P1 Middle age woman who had a stroke while giving birth to her daughter Limited verbal ability, but has some receptive language skills Good finger isolation of her right hand Wants to visit her three children at her home non-ambulatory and uses manual wheelchair pushed by attendant 30 can operate a remote control

31 Participants: P2 Older man who has traumatic brain injury Good verbal ability and receptive language skills Wants to communicate with his wife at their home communicates daily with his wife using his cell phone 31

32 Participants: P3 Young girl with developmental disabilities Good verbal ability and receptive language skills Good dexterity in both hands Wants to visit with her older sister 32

33 Future Work How does the use of the telepresence robot change over time? How do interpersonal relationships change over time when a telepresence robot is used as an intermediary? How can the quality of an interaction when using a telepresence robot be measured? Phase 2: robot remains with family for 2-4 weeks and can use whenever the robot driver wants 33

34 Implications for Telecommuting Students can use telepresence robots to go to school (e.g., Lyndon Baty s use of the VGo robot; PEBBLES robot [Fels et al., 1999]) Robotic devices for environmental control and self-care can be specified in a student s individualized education program (IEP) great potential for our research to impact people with special needs both in personal, family scenarios as targeted by our pilot study and also for work-related scenarios 34 As telepresence robots prove their value in this use case, we may find telepresence robots explicitly listed in students IEPs in the near future

35 Implications for Telecommuting According to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), employees and potential employees with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to the work environment or processes related to their job [US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2005] Companies have already begun to investigate telepresence robots for ad-hoc conversations beyond the conference room for remote employees to be better connected adults with disabilities, telepresence robots could be used to engage in telecommuting or remote work 35 As telepresence robots become part of the corporate culture, it will become feasible for more adults with disabilities to telecommute from their residence.

36 :) robotics.cs.uml.edu 36