Feedback modalities for a table setting robot assistant for elder care

TL;DR

This study investigates how visual, auditory, and combined feedback modalities affect interaction quality in a table setting robot assistant designed for elder care, highlighting verbal feedback as most effective.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of different feedback modalities, especially verbal feedback, in enhancing elder-robot interaction quality.

Findings

Verbal feedback significantly improves interaction involvement.

Combination of LED lights and verbal commands enhances understanding.

Feedback modality influences interaction quality more than complexity.

Abstract

The interaction of Older adults with robots requires effective feedback to keep them aware of the state of the interaction for optimum interaction quality. This study examines the effect of different feedback modalities in a table setting robot assistant for elder care. Two different feedback modalities (visual and auditory) and their combination were evaluated for three complexity levels. The visual feedback included the use of LEDs and a GUI screen. The auditory feedback included alerts (beeps) and verbal commands. The results revealed that the quality of interaction was influenced mainly by the feedback modality, and complexity had less influence. The verbal feedback was significantly preferable and increased the involvement of the participants during the experiment. The combination of LED lights and verbal commands increased participants' understanding contributing to the quality of interaction.