Virtual assistive companions for older adults: Qualitative field study and design implications

TY - GEN

T1 - Virtual assistive companions for older adults

T2 - 8th International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, PERVASIVEHEALTH 2014

AU - Tsiourti, Christiana

AU - Joly, Emilie

AU - Wings, Cindy

AU - Moussa, Maher Ben

AU - Wac, Katarzyna

PY - 2014/7/23

Y1 - 2014/7/23

N2 - This paper presents a qualitative study conducted to explore perceptions, attitudes and expectations for a virtual assistive companion designed to supplement human caregiving and facilitate an improved quality of life and long-term health benefits for older adults. The study was conducted adopting a human-centred approach; employing focus groups and individual interviews with older adults, professional caregivers and psychologists specialized in the aging process. Results indicated that users were in favour of a virtual companion and highlighted its potential to assist the accomplishment of daily activities and make more efficient use of human care services. Humanlike communication and behaviour were desirable whereas mixed opinions were expressed about humanlike appearance. The ramifications of the study are discussed in the form of design implications for the development of a virtual assistive companion that possesses the appropriate "social skills" to establish and maintain comfortable and acceptable longterm interaction and offers "useful" support to older adults.

AB - This paper presents a qualitative study conducted to explore perceptions, attitudes and expectations for a virtual assistive companion designed to supplement human caregiving and facilitate an improved quality of life and long-term health benefits for older adults. The study was conducted adopting a human-centred approach; employing focus groups and individual interviews with older adults, professional caregivers and psychologists specialized in the aging process. Results indicated that users were in favour of a virtual companion and highlighted its potential to assist the accomplishment of daily activities and make more efficient use of human care services. Humanlike communication and behaviour were desirable whereas mixed opinions were expressed about humanlike appearance. The ramifications of the study are discussed in the form of design implications for the development of a virtual assistive companion that possesses the appropriate "social skills" to establish and maintain comfortable and acceptable longterm interaction and offers "useful" support to older adults.

KW - HCI

KW - Health promotion

KW - Human-centred design

KW - Older users

KW - Personalization

KW - Qualitative field study

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928902379&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2014.254943

DO - 10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2014.254943

M3 - Article in proceedings

AN - SCOPUS:84928902379

SN - 9781631900112

SP - 57

EP - 64

BT - Proceedings - PERVASIVEHEALTH 2014: 8th International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare

PB - ICST

Y2 - 20 May 2014 through 23 May 2014

ER -