IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infosf/v26y2024i1d10.1007_s10796-021-10175-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Robot Pets as “Serious Toys”- Activating Social and Emotional Experiences of Elderly People

Author

Listed:
  • Pirita Ihamäki

    (Prizztech Ltd)

  • Katriina Heljakka

    (University of Turku)

Abstract

When robots are used as part of meaningful play, for example to enhance wellbeing, they can be considered “serious toys”. Our study examines the potential of robotic pet toys viewed as companions, which activate social and emotional experiences of the elderly by increasing their wellbeing. In order to study the benefits of using Golden Pup, a commercial robot dog, we designed and performed a research intervention at a senior day activity center with 10 participants of ages 65–80+ years who were joined by a playful group of preschoolers. In this study, we were mainly interested in the firsthand user experiences.This study suggests how robotic pets can be used to activate the social and emotional experiences of elderly, and illustrated the role of building a relationship with a robotic pet. We present novel results on how a robot dog with a natural interface (NUI) may be used to evoke social and emotional experiences in older adults as part of playful, intergenerational group activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Pirita Ihamäki & Katriina Heljakka, 2024. "Robot Pets as “Serious Toys”- Activating Social and Emotional Experiences of Elderly People," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 25-39, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:26:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10796-021-10175-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10796-021-10175-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10796-021-10175-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10796-021-10175-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:26:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10796-021-10175-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.