Title:
Understanding older adults' perceptions of usefulness of an assistive home robot

dc.contributor.advisor Fisk, Arthur D.
dc.contributor.author Beer, Jenay M.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Rogers, Wendy A.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Durso, Frank
dc.contributor.committeeMember Kemp, Charles C.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Takayama, Leila
dc.contributor.department Psychology
dc.date.accessioned 2014-01-13T16:53:38Z
dc.date.available 2014-01-13T16:53:38Z
dc.date.created 2013-12
dc.date.issued 2013-11-21
dc.date.submitted December 2013
dc.date.updated 2014-01-13T16:53:38Z
dc.description.abstract 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.
dc.description.degree Ph.D.
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/50404
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject Aging
dc.subject Human-robot interaction
dc.subject.lcsh Robots
dc.subject.lcsh Human-robot interaction
dc.title Understanding older adults' perceptions of usefulness of an assistive home robot
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.corporatename College of Sciences
local.contributor.corporatename School of Psychology
local.contributor.corporatename Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM)
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 85042be6-2d68-4e07-b384-e1f908fae48a
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 768a3cd1-8d73-4d47-b418-0fc859ce897d
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 66259949-abfd-45c2-9dcc-5a6f2c013bcf
thesis.degree.level Doctoral
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