Social Robotics for Rehabilitation

The great majority of robots in rehabilitation aim to help the user achieve their movement goal by providing the user with mechanical assistance. A relatively new category of robots – the socially assistive robots (SARs) – takes a different approach. The SARs help motivate the users to perform their exercise program – whether as part of a post-stroke rehabilitation program, or as a companion in a healthy-aging exercise routine.

In this talk, I will outline the current state (and blind spots) of SAR research, and present results from my lab on how young and old healthy adults interact with social robots. I will demonstrate that robots prime the movement of users, and argue that this effect should be taken as a design feature when designing any interaction with robots – within and outside the realm of rehabilitation.