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School of Psychology

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Item
    Applying a qualitative framework of acceptance of personal robots
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-11-17) Smarr, Cory-Ann Cook
    Personal robots can help people live safer, more efficient and comfortable lives. However, such benefits cannot be achieved if people do not use, or accept, personal robots. The use of a technology is predominantly influenced by an individual's intention to use it, which is influenced by his or her attitudes toward it (Davis, 1989). Presently, the key factors that impact the use of personal robots are not fully understood. Two studies were conducted as first step assessments of the Smarr, Fisk, and Rogers (2013) theoretically-based framework of acceptance of personal robots. In study 1, 14 participants used a personal robot (a robot lawn mower) at their homes for about six weeks. Their acceptance and factors important for acceptance identified in the framework were measured using pre-use and post-use interviews and questionnaires, and weekly diaries. The framework was conceptually validated; participants mentioned 16 of the 20 factors in the Smarr et al. (2013) framework. However, the framework did not fully account for the breadth of factors discussed by participants, thereby suggesting variables may need to be added to or removed from the framework. In study 2, 280 participants reported their initial acceptance of a personal robot (a robot mower) with different levels of reliability and communication of feedback in an online survey. Level of robot reliability did significantly affect attitudinal and intentional acceptance. Follow up analyses indicated a trend that participants who received no information on reliability had numerically higher acceptance than participants who were informed that the robot had 70% reliability or 90% reliability. Neither communication of feedback nor its interaction with reliability affected acceptance. The Smarr et al. (2013) framework explained about 60% of the variance in intentional acceptance and 57% in attitudinal acceptance of a personal robot. Eight of the 15 relationships tested were supported via path analysis. Findings largely supported the Smarr et al. (2013) framework in explaining what impacts intentional and attitudinal acceptance of a personal robot. Results from these studies can inform the Smarr et al. (2013) framework of robot acceptance and other models of acceptance, and can guide designers in developing acceptable personal robots.
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    Understanding older adults' perceptions of usefulness of an assistive home robot
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-11-21) Beer, Jenay M.
    Developing robots that are useful to older adults is more than simply creating robots that complete household tasks. To ensure that older adults perceive a robot to be useful, careful consideration of the users’ capabilities, robot autonomy, and task is needed (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). The purpose of this study was to investigate the construct of perceived usefulness within the context of robot assistance. Mobile older adults (N = 12) and older adults with mobility loss (N=12) participated in an autonomy selection think aloud task, and a persona based interview. Findings suggest that older adults with mobility loss preferred an autonomy level where they command/control the robot themselves. Mobile older adults’ preferences were split between commanding/controlling the robot themselves, or the robot commands/controls itself. Reasons for their preferences were related to decision making, and were task specific. Additionally, findings from the persona base interview study support Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs, as well as adaptability, reliability, and trust as positively correlated with perceptions of usefulness. However, despite the positive correlation, barriers and facilitators of acceptance identified in the interview suggest that perceived usefulness judgments are complex, and some questionnaire constructs were interpreted differently between participants. Thus, care should be taken when applying TAM constructs to other domains, such as robot assistance to promote older adult independence.
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    Understanding the construct of human trust in domestic service robots
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-11-18) Olson, Katherine E.
    Simple robots are already being deployed and adopted by some consumers for use at home. The robots currently in development for home use are far more sophisticated. However, it was not know the extent to which humans would trust them. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence trust in domestic service robots across a range of users with different capabilities and experience levels. Twelve younger adults (aged 18-28) and 24 older adults (12 low technology users and 12 high technology users) aged 65-75 participated in a structured interview, card-sorting task, and several questionnaires. Most participants had heard about or seen robots, but indicated they had little experience with them. However, most had positive opinions about robots and indicated they would trust a robot to assist with tasks in their homes, though it was dependent on the task. Before making a decision to trust a robot, participants wanted to know a lot of information about the robot such robot reliability, capabilities, and limitations. When asked to select their trust preference for human versus robot assistance for specific tasks, participants had preferences for both human and robot assistance, although it was dependent on the task. Many participants defined trust in robots similar to definitions of trust in automation (Ezer, 2008; Jian et al., 2000). Additionally, they had high rates of selection for adjectives used to describe trust in automation and also selected some adjectives used to describe trust in humans when asked to select characteristics they most associated with trustworthy and untrustworthy robots. Overall, there were some differences between age and technology experience groups, but there were far more similarities. By carefully considering user needs, robot designers can develop robots that have the potential to be adopted by a wide range of people.
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    Older Adults' Acceptance of Assistive Robots for the Home
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011) Mitzner, Tracy L. ; Smarr, Cory-Ann ; Beer, Jenay M. ; Chen, Tiffany L. ; Springman, Jennifer Megan ; Prakash, Akanksha ; Kemp, Charles C. ; Rogers, Wendy A.