Older Adults' Preferences for Feedback Cadence from an Exercise Coach Robot

TL;DR

This study investigates how older adults perceive different feedback cadences from a robot exercise coach, highlighting the importance of personalized interaction timing for effective robot-assisted exercise.

Contribution

It provides insights into how feedback cadence in verbal and nonverbal communication affects older adults' perceptions, informing better design of robot coaching interactions.

Findings

Changing feedback cadence in one modality influences perception of both modalities.

Older adults' preferences vary with feedback frequency, affecting engagement.

Results can guide the design of personalized robot exercise coaching.

Abstract

People can respond to feedback and guidance in different ways, and it is important for robots to personalize their interactions and utilize verbal and nonverbal communication cues. We aim to understand how older adults respond to different cadences of verbal and nonverbal feedback of a robot exercise coach. We conducted an online study of older adults, where participants evaluated videos of the robot giving feedback at different cadences for each modality. The results indicate that changing the cadence of one modality affects the perception of both it and the other modality. We can use the results from this study to better design the frequency of the robot coach's feedback during an exercise session with this population.