Using robots to help people habituate to visible disabilities

Area of Science:

• Human-robot interaction
• Assistive technology
• Communication studies

Background:

• Inter-ability communication, or interaction between people with and without disabilities, presents unique challenges.
• Existing methods for practicing such interactions are limited.
• Robots offer a potential novel platform for facilitating social interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the use of robots as social facilitators for inter-ability communication.
• To investigate whether an android robot can serve as a practice tool for inter-ability interactions.
• To examine the relationship between attitudes toward robots and attitudes toward people with disabilities.

Main Methods:

• Interviewed individuals with head and facial movement disorders (n=4).
• Recreated observed movements on a 27 degree-of-freedom android robot using a vision-based approach.
• Conducted an exploratory experiment (n=26) to assess the robot's utility as a practice tool.

Main Results:

• Results suggest that robots may be useful for practicing inter-ability interactions.
• A significant correlation was found between negative attitudes toward robots and negative attitudes toward people with disabilities.
• The robot successfully mimicked human movements, indicating potential for realistic social facilitation.

Conclusions:

• Robots show promise as tools to enhance inter-ability communication.
• Practicing with robots could improve social interaction skills for individuals with disabilities.
• Addressing negative attitudes toward robots may positively impact perceptions of people with disabilities.