Aries

Existing solutions

There are many robotic pets available for the older adult population. Paro, a robot seal developed by Japanese engineers as an alternative to animal-assisted therapy has five kinds of sensors. tactile, light, audition, temperature, and posture designed to perceive people's interaction (touch, hold, talk), and its environment (dark or light). Miro, an animal-like biomimetic robot, create at Sheffield University is a friendly and approachable companion. It has six senses such as 3D eyesight and echolocation to create engagement in older adults and supplement human care. 

in 2015 Hasbro released to the market a robotic cat under the brand Joy for All. Now under the company Ageless Innovation, the family of products had the successful introduction of cats, a dog, and more recently a kitten. still, there is an opportunity to expand the capabilities of the robots

Motivations

Aries project: Affordable robotic intelligence for elderly support

The Master of Design program at the University of Cincinnati created the graduate studio-based class Technologies to Extend Life, where an interdisciplinary group of students proposed the new robotic pet based on the robot from Joy for All.

This project ARIES advances a co-design participatory approach in the many phases, utilizing a variety of tools to assess, analyze, develop, design, implement, and evaluate robotic companion interventions . Older adults and caregivers are involved in the research and design process.

The project has two primary objectives. First, the objective is to understand the real challenges older adults face in activities of daily living. And second, is to develop innovative hardware and software tools that can meet some of the identified daily challenges from the objective one.

Prototype 1, Scruffy the yorkie

This prototype included the participation of other team members: Sunnie Sun, Ryan He, Amy Federwisch, Xinyu Qiu, Moti Saleminik, and Xinyi Cai

Conclusions

1. Designing the companion as critical as it is the primary interface.

2. Natural aesthetics and feel of furs, inner body structures combining hard and soft parts

3. The power of multidisciplinary collaborations, community involvement, and the integration of design in other disciplines and research projects.

4. The importance is to advance new models of care while embedding technologies for the health and well-being

5. Including users in early stages of design creates a collaborative relationship that can produce better outcomes, more desirable, usable, buyable products with more seamless interaction.