Abstract
The development of robot technology provides many possibilities for the life support of the elderly. This study explored the acceptability of robots to assist the elderly from the perspective of future designers. A quantitative questionnaire (58 copies) and a qualitative one-to-one interview (10 people) were conducted to explore the attitude of future designers towards the use of robots to assist the elderly. One-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test statistic was used to analyze the data of the questionnaire. The results show that the mean and median of 11 of the 12 dimensions of the acceptability questionnaire are greater than 3 (3 represents uncertain and neutral attitude), and 10 have statistical significance (p < 0.05). Also, the interview results show the positive attitude of future designers. The research shows that future designers hold a positive and open attitude towards the use of robots to assist the elderly. The research findings can help people understand the attitude of future designers and provide some reference for subsequent robot design and development.
Highlights
IntroductionAccording to the global report on aging and health by the World Health Organization, by the middle of this century, apart from many countries in Europe and North America, the proportion of the elderly population in Chile, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries will exceed 30% [1]
By comparing the median of the constructs of the acceptability questionnaire with 3 (3 represents uncertain and neutral attitude), we found that the median of 9 of the 12 constructs was greater than 3, and the median of 3 constructs was 4, which were respectively the ATT, perceived adaptability (PAD), and perceived usefulness (PU) constructs
The research shows that the median number of most constructs in the acceptability questionnaire exceeds 3, and the p-value of a total of 10 constructs is less than 0.05, which indicates that such constructs are of statistical significance
Summary
According to the global report on aging and health by the World Health Organization, by the middle of this century, apart from many countries in Europe and North America, the proportion of the elderly population in Chile, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries will exceed 30% [1]. The elderly need help in basic functions regarding personal health and activities of daily living (ADLs) [12]. In this regard, modern technology should be adopted to address aging-related issues such as shortage of professionals and high health care costs in a bid to satisfy demands of the elderly to live independently at home, in hospitals and other institutions, and to provide independent life and high-quality health care to the elderly
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