The proof of concept of a shadow robotic system for independent living at home

Abstract

In the framework of the EU funded SRS (Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for independent Living) project, an innovative semi autonomous service robot is under development with the aim to support frail elderly people at their home. This paper reports about the user validation of the SRS concept involving 63 potential users of the system coming from Italy, Germany and Spain: in particular they were frail elderly people, their relatives and 24 hour telecare professionals. Results confirmed that monitoring and managing emergency situations as well as helping with reaching, fetching and carrying objects that are too heavy or positioned in unreachable places are the tasks for which a robot is better accepted to address users' needs. To support the scenarios executions and operation modes, the interaction concept should provide three different interaction devices and modalities for each user group. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.