Using Socially Assistive Robots to Address the Caregiver Gap

There are looming health care and education crises on the horizon. Baby boomers are getting older and requiring more care, which puts pressure on caregivers. The US nursing shortage is projected to worsen. Similarly, the rapid growth of diagnoses of developmental disorders suggests a greater need for educators, one that the education system is struggling to meet. These great and growing shortfalls in the number of caregivers and educators may be addressed (in part) through the use of socially assistive robotics. In health care, non-contact repetitive tasks make up a large part of a caregiver’s day. Tasks such as monitoring instruments only require a check to verify that readings are within norms. By offloading these tasks to an automated system, a nurse or doctor could spend more time doing work that better leverages their medical training. A robot can effectively perform simple repetitive tasks (e.g., monitoring breath spirometry exercises or post-stroke rehabilitation compliance). I coined the term “socially assistive robotics” (SAR) to describe robots that provide such assistance through social rather than physical interaction. My research is the development of SAR algorithms and complete systems relevant to domains such as post-stroke rehabilitation, elder care, and therapeutic interaction for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A key challenge for such autonomous SAR systems is the ability to sense, interpret, and properly respond to human social behavior. One of my research priorities is developing a socially assistive robotic system for children with ASD. Children with ASD are characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Significant anecdotal evidence indicates that some children with ASD respond socially to robots, which could have therapeutic ramifications. We envision a robot that could act as a catalyst for social interaction, both human-robot and human-human, thus aiding AS