What is ROBOT-BOND?
Robots are getting more and more common in people’s daily lives. Not just robot-vacuums and -lawn mowers, but also robots that you can communicate with through verbal and non-verbal cues. These types of robots are social robots. They can offer assistance in the healthcare and can help in classrooms in cases of shortages of personnel, even though these applications are just in their first steps.
Before these robots can be implemented in the healthcare or in classrooms, it is important to research what impact this implementation can have on the users. That is why this research focuses on a fundamental question: “How do humans bond with robots? Why do they do it and under what circumstances does it happen? What are the consequences of this bonding?”
Who are the target groups?
StudentS
On one hand, robots can offer support for students to overcome the obstacles that they can encounter. That is why we are going to investigate what tasks a robot can best perform to support students.
On the other hand, by conducting experiments with students in a lab setting, we can also gain insights into the neural aspects of human-robot bonding, by looking at brain activity (e.g. through EEG data).
children with autism and/or attention deficit disorders
To support children in schools, the ROBOT-BOND project will investigate the use of robots as tutors. For children with autism and children with attention deficit disorders, robots can be effective companions to help children one-on-one in school. In collaboration with elementary schools we will research what task the robot can perform, develop this task, and research how the children can build a bond during an interaction with a robot.
adolescents with mood disorders
There are many adolescents who struggle with conditions like mild anxiety and depression. These adolescents are often put on a waitlist, such as those of GGZ-institutions, for a long time before they can get the help they need. The ROBOT-BOND project will investigate how a robot can help these adolescents to manage their symptoms. In collaboration with healthcare professionals and adolescents we will research a an effective and appropriate application. In addition, we will research how these adolescents bond with a robot.
young adults with disabilities
Young adults with disabilities can benefit from interacting with social robots, which offer companionship to those who experience increased social isolation due to their circumstances. That is why ROBOT-BOND will work together with young adults and healthcare professionals to investigate what these robots can do to reduce the feeling of loneliness. In addition, we will investigate how this target group bonds with a social robot.
