Development and Evaluation of an Interactive Therapy Robot

Interactions with animals can enhance emotions and improve mood by engendering feelings of healing, relaxation, comfort, and reduced stress. Un-fortunately, many people cannot live with animals because of allergies, infection risk, or risk of damage to rental housing. To address these problems, some research groups have investigated robot-based psychotherapy. However, the important healing elements for therapy robots were not identified. Therefore, we conducted an Internet survey to determine the design elements of such a robot that might engender a healing mood and the functions that should be implemented. We assumed that a healing mood could be induced based on the interactive functions and appearance. To verify this hypothesis, we developed and evaluated a new interactive therapy robot. Next, we conducted interviews with individuals who interacted with a prototype therapy robot. The interviews revealed that the appearance of the robot was critical to engendering feelings of healing, comfort, and empathy. In addition, the size, softness, and comfort of the interactive therapy robot contributed to people feeling affection towards it. We also confirmed the importance of the robot appearing to listen to those who interacted with it. Our results should be useful for designing companion robots for therapy purposes.