MSGID: 1:317/3 641149ee   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Robots can help improve mental wellbeing at work -- as long as they look   
   right    
      
     Date:   
         March 14, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Cambridge   
     Summary:   
         Robots can be useful as mental wellbeing coaches in the workplace   
         -- but perception of their effectiveness depends in large part on   
         what the robot looks like.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Robots can be useful as mental wellbeing coaches in the workplace --   
   but perception of their effectiveness depends in large part on what the   
   robot looks like.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Researchers from the University of Cambridge carried out a study in   
   a tech consultancy firm using two different robot wellbeing coaches,   
   where 26 employees participated in weekly robot-led wellbeing sessions   
   for four weeks.   
      
   Although the robots had identical voices, facial expressions, and   
   scripts for the sessions, the robots' physical appearance affected how   
   participants interacted with it.   
      
   Participants who did their wellbeing exercises with a toy-like robot said   
   that they felt more of a connection with their 'coach' than participants   
   who worked with a humanoid-like robot. The researchers say that perception   
   of robots is affected by popular culture, where the only limit on what   
   robots can do is the imagination. When faced with a robot in the real   
   world however, it often does not live up to expectations.   
      
   Since the toy-like robot looks simpler, participants may have had lower   
   expectations and ended up finding the robot easier to talk connect with.   
      
   Participants who worked with the humanoid robot found that their   
   expectations didn't match reality, since the robot was not capable of   
   having interactive conversations.   
      
   Despite the differences between expectations and reality, the researchers   
   say that their study shows that robots can be a useful tool to promote   
   mental wellbeing in the workplace. The results will be reported today   
   (15 March) at the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot   
   Interaction in Stockholm.   
      
   The World Health Organization recommends that employers take action to   
   promote and protect mental wellbeing at work, but the implementation   
   of wellbeing practices is often limited by a lack of resources and   
   personnel. Robots have shown some early promise for helping address this   
   gap, but most studies on robots and wellbeing have been conducted in a   
   laboratory setting.   
      
   "We wanted to take the robots out of the lab and study how they might   
   be useful in the real world," said Dr Micol Spitale, the paper's first   
   author.   
      
   The researchers collaborated with local technology company Cambridge   
   Consultants to design and implement a workplace wellbeing programme using   
   robots. Over the course of four weeks, employees were guided through four   
   different wellbeing exercises by one of two robots: either the QTRobot   
   (QT) or the Misty II robot (Misty).   
      
   The QT is a childlike humanoid robot and roughly 90cm tall, while Misty   
   is a 36cm tall toy-like robot. Both robots have screen faces that can   
   be programmed with different facial expressions.   
      
   "We interviewed different wellbeing coaches and then we programmed   
   our robots to have a coach-like personality, with high openness and   
   conscientiousness," said co-author Minja Axelsson. "The robots were   
   programmed to have the same personality, the same facial expressions   
   and the same voice, so the only difference between them was the physical   
   robot form."  Participants in the experiment were guided through different   
   positive psychology exercises by a robot in an office meeting room. Each   
   session started with the robot asking participants to recall a positive   
   experience or describe something in their lives they were grateful   
   for, and the robot would ask follow-up questions. After the sessions,   
   participants were asked to assess the robot with a questionnaire and   
   an interview. Participants did one session per week for four weeks,   
   and worked with the same robot for each session.   
      
   Participants who worked with the toy-like Misty robot reported that   
   they had a better working connection with the robot than participants   
   who worked with the child-like QT robot. Participants also had a more   
   positive perception of Misty overall.   
      
   "It could be that since the Misty robot is more toy-like, it matched their   
   expectations," said Spitale. "But since QT is more humanoid, they expected   
   it to behave like a human, which may be why participants who worked with   
   QT were slightly underwhelmed."  "The most common response we had from   
   participants was that their expectations of the robot didn't match with   
   reality," said Professor Hatice Gunes from Cambridge's Department of   
   Computer Science and Technology, who led the research. "We programmed   
   the robots with a script, but participants were hoping there would be   
   more interactivity. It's incredibly difficult to create a robot that's   
   capable of natural conversation. New developments in large language   
   models could really be beneficial in this respect."  "Our perceptions   
   of how robots should look or behave might be holding back the uptake of   
   robotics in areas where they can be useful," said Axelsson.   
      
   Although the robots used in the experiment are not as advanced as C-3PO or   
   other fictional robots, participants still said they found the wellbeing   
   exercises helpful, and that they were open to the idea of talking to a   
   robot in future.   
      
   "The robot can serve as a physical reminder to commit to the practice   
   of wellbeing exercises," said Gunes. "And just saying things out loud,   
   even to a robot, can be helpful when you're trying to improve mental   
   wellbeing."  The team is now working to enhance the robot coaches'   
   responsiveness during the coaching practices and interactions.   
      
   The research was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences   
   Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation   
   (UKRI). Hatice Gunes is a Staff Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Mental_Health # Perception # Psychology   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Robotics_Research # Engineering # Vehicles   
             o Computers_&_Math   
                   # Robotics # Artificial_Intelligence # Virtual_Reality   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Industrial_robot o Humanoid_robot o Robot o Robot_calibration   
             o Nanorobotics o Robotic_surgery o Cognition o Visual_perception   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Cambridge. The original   
   text of this story is licensed under a Creative_Commons_License. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Related Multimedia:   
       * QT_robot_and_Misty_robot   
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Micol Spitale, Minja Axelsson, Hatice Gunes. Robotic Mental   
      Well-being   
         Coaches for the Workplace. Proceedings of the 2023 ACM/IEEE   
         International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2023 DOI:   
         10.1145/3568162.3577003   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230314205344.htm   
      
   --- up 1 year, 2 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 226/30 227/114 229/110   
   SEEN-BY: 229/111 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854 298/25   
   SEEN-BY: 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426