IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2023 - 22

This framework was explained through different levels of
computation, from the robots' navigation to the chosen strategy
in the communication interface. The system can also aid
in helping people avoid forgetting and mistaking their medicines
and provide feedback among family members, friends,
and caregiving staff about the same. We also presented a new
webserver system for multirobot communication and the sharing
of messages among different agents in real time. Such
systems in the home care scenario can provide appropriate
support to users by distributing tasks to multirobot systems,
where each robot can do a specific task. Unlike a single robot
system, our proposed system is less complex, and task distribution
and allotment among the robots can be efficiently
handled without hindering the overall task at hand. The robots
work with humans under a shared autonomy policy that considers
a person's safety and the obstacles in an area as well as
our proposed sensory information from a facility along with
(1) Intelligence
(2) Frustration
6
5
(2) Physical Demand
4
6 5 4 3
4
5
6
(2) Mental Demand
6
(3) Anxiety
5
4
4
5
6
3
3
3
3
3
4
5
6
6
5
4
3
3 4 5 6
3
4
5
6
wearable sensors. We did an extensive questionnaire evaluation
with a new nine-point scale. From the evaluation results,
experts in the field of health and engineering expressed keen
interest in the potential of the robot; however, they highlighted
open challenges regarding anxiety, trust, and sociability factors.
Also, certain experts found the system frustrating, which
could directly correlate with sociability. Social scientists also
had a certain level of interest but indicated their concerns
regarding social interactions and physical demands.
Although the concept was successfully presented through
(1) Usefulness
(1) Convenience
(3) Trust
(3) Sociability
(1) Engineering (2) Health (3) Social
(a)
(1) Intelligence
(2) Frustration
6
5
(2) Physical Demand
4
6 5 4 3
4
5
6
(2) Mental Demand
6
(3) Anxiety
5
4
4
5
6
(3) Sociability
Total Other Sector
(b)
FIGURE 12. The nine-point questionnaire results. (a) Scores considering experts in
engineering, healthcare, and social fields. (b) Scores considering all the experts.
22 IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE MARCH 2023
3
3
3
3
3
4
5
6
(1) Usefulness
6
5
4
3
3 4 5 6
3
4
5
6
(3) Trust
(1) Convenience
several demonstrations in real-world cases, many problems
should be addressed in the home care robot scenarios. These
problems can be grouped into different levels of engineering,
social science, and AI aspects. From the engineering aspect, the
safety, real-time risk assessment, and development of advanced
actuating mechanisms in assisting people with severe disabilities
is challenging. Furthermore, there is a significant amount
of research on developing different
assistive mechanisms to help patients
from different aspects, such as motion
assistance, toilet support, and more challenging
tasks, including transfer support.
Also, there are studies on understanding
the ethical and psychological issues
regarding robot and human interaction
in social science. For example, how will
a robot understand a person's needs, and
to what extent can it provide physical
and emotional support? Can machines
understand human stress and experience
with robots? What if an elderly person
cannot get used to the way robots interact
with him or her? How can we make
a quantification for evaluating ethical
issues at the low level?
Data protection and information privacy
is another issue where an informed
consent-based evaluation of a user's
request by the AI is made. On the side of
the AI, the problems can be focused on
the global intelligence: improving robot
understanding of high-level instructions
from a user in human-friendly ways.
For example, in a scene where not only
patients but also everyday people and
other professionals are participants, the
AI should be able to respond and react
based on a person's intention, occupation,
and interaction with counterparts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was partially supported by
the Japan Science and Technology
Agency (Moonshot Research & Development
Program), under grant JPMJMS2034.
Before the experiment, our
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2023

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