User expectations of privacy in robot assisted therapy

Zachary Henkel,David C May,Cindy L Bethel,Kenna Baugus

doi:10.1515/pjbr-2019-0010

Zachary Henkel, David C May + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2019-0010

Copy DOI

Abstract

Abstract This article describes ethical issues related to the design and use of social robots in sensitive contexts like psychological interventions and provides insights from one user design study and two controlled experiments with adults and children. User expectations regarding privacy with a therapeutic robotic dog, Therabot, gathered from a 16 participant design study are presented. Furthermore, results from 142 forensic interviews about bullying experiences conducted with children (ages 8 to 17) using three different social robots (Nao, Female RoboKind, Male RoboKind) and humans (female and male) as forensic interviewers are examined to provide insights into child beliefs about privacy and social judgment in sensitive interactions with social robots. The data collected indicates that adult participants felt a therapeutic robotic dog would be most useful for children in comparison to other age groups, and should include privacy safeguards. Data obtained from children after a forensic interview about their bullying experiences shows that they perceive social robots as providing significantly more socially protective factors than adult humans. These findings provide insight into how children perceive social robots and illustrate the need for careful considerationwhen designing social robots that will be used in sensitive contexts with vulnerable users like children.

Highlights

This article describes ethical issues related to the design and use of social robots in sensitive contexts like psychological interventions and provides insights from one user design study and two controlled experiments with adults and children
Results from 142 forensic interviews about bullying experiences conducted with children using three different social robots (Nao, Female RoboKind, Male RoboKind) and humans as forensic interviewers are examined to provide insights into child beliefs about privacy and social judgment in sensitive interactions with social robots
Findings from the small interactive design study for a therapeutic robotic dog highlight that participants had basic privacy concerns and felt the platform would be most useful for interactions with children

Summary

Introduction

Abstract: This article describes ethical issues related to the design and use of social robots in sensitive contexts like psychological interventions and provides insights from one user design study and two controlled experiments with adults and children. Data obtained from children after a forensic interview about their bullying experiences shows that they perceive social robots as providing significantly more socially protective factors than adult humans. These findings provide insight into how children perceive social robots and illustrate the need for careful consideration when designing social robots that will be used in sensitive contexts with vulnerable users like children. Researchers in the field of human-robot interaction working with children have raised concerns about how well users under-

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion