AI Insight
This formative study explored design preferences for a psychological support social pet robot among six community-dwelling adults with long-term physical disabilities through interviews and workshop analysis. Participants emphasized the importance of companionship, physical touch, flexible mindfulness guidance, mood check-ins, and accessibility considerations tailored to their pain and daily routines. The research team synthesized these user preferences into preliminary design requirements and developed a proof-of-concept prototype, though it only partially implemented the identified requirements.
Why it matters
People with long-term physical disabilities living at home often experience pain and reduced mental wellbeing but may have limited access to psychological support. A well-designed social robot could provide accessible companionship and mindfulness interventions in home settings, potentially improving quality of life for this population.
⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Background. Community-dwelling people with long-term physical disabilities may experience pain that interferes with daily and social activities and is associated with poorer mental wellbeing. A home-based psychological support social pet robot could offer mood check-ins, companionship, supportive interaction, and mindfulness guidance for community-dwelling people with long-term physical disabilities. Preliminary evidence is needed to understand their preferences and translate them into candidate design requirements. Objective. This study aimed to identify preliminary needs and preferences to inform a psychological support social pet robot for community-dwelling people with long-term physical disabilities, offering mood check-ins, companionship, and mindfulness guidance at home. Methods. We conducted a 3-phase formative user-informed design study comprising initial concept development, qualitative target user interviews, and a design workshop. Six community-dwelling adults with long-term physical disabilities took part in the interviews, and one participant also answered the workshop questions by telephone. Four authors used modified workshop materials to synthesize the interview findings and separate responses into an early product plan. Results. Qualitative content analysis of the interview transcripts produced 5 themes. These were emotional support, soft touch and appearance, mindfulness delivery, context of use, and ease of use and accessibility. Participants expressed preferences about companionship, touch, use settings, and interaction effort. The author workshop combined these findings with author and technical judgments to develop candidate requirements for dialogue and mindfulness delivery. The resulting psychological support concept combined mood check-ins and companion-oriented interaction with flexible mindfulness guidance. The design also needed to consider pain and daily routines. After the workshop, the authors developed a physical proof-of-concept prototype. It implemented only part of the candidate requirements and included additional author or technical choices. Conclusions. For this small community-dwelling sample, target user input showed that home use, physical access, companionship, and flexible support were important. Mindfulness was one component of the broader psychological support role, alongside mood check-ins and optional companion interaction. The prototype illustrates but does not validate the early requirements. Further studies should include people with a wider range of long-term physical disabilities and test usability, accessibility, privacy, and nursing value. Keywords. social pet robots; user-informed design; psychological support; mindfulness; long-term physical disabilities; community dwelling; user centered design; human robot interaction; mental health; qualitative research