"The Inhabited Robot" is a telepresence service centered around a "neighbourhood robot" that acts as an avatar for someone living elsewhere. This person can remotely "inhabit" the robot, seeing through its eyes and interacting with the environment. The robot can be accompanied on walks by someone physically present, allowing the two individuals—remote and local—to talk and share the experience of a stroll together.
The aim of the project is to foster intergenerational encounters between people of different ages in an informal setting—free from assistive technology frameworks and ageist approaches.
Young and senior participants tested for the first time “The Inhabited Robot” during the pilot at the Old Port of Genoa and at the Acquario di Genova last July. Pairs composed by a young - physically staying in Genoa - and a senior – physically staying in Rome- had the chance to stroll around and visit the places, admire the wonderful creatures at the Aquarium and have small talks together. Small talks and casual encounters are something precious and unique that we are gradually loosing to experience, especially between people of different generations.
During our pilots, the strolls lasted from 20 to 30 minutes for each pair. The young participants led the stroll by holding the Robot cord and the seniors participated through two different immersive modalities: by wall projection and VR headset. The paper will describe the results of the experimentation and future development.

Authors:
Laura Boffi, Spirited Design Office SRLS, Italy
Gianluca Boccia, Nuova Socialità, Italy

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Posted by James Alexander Gordon

Last updated: 2023-02-23 23:45:00

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