HCC: Large: Collaborative Research: Always-On Relational Agents for Social Support of Older Adults

HCC：大型：协作研究：用于老年人社会支持的始终在线关系代理

• 批准号: 1012086
• 负责人: Timothy Bickmore
• 金额: $ 72.6万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1012086&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HCC; Large; Collaborative; Research; Always

Abstract This project will create a new category of intelligent, autonomous virtual or robotic agent, which is continuously operating and interacting with humans - always on - for long periods of time and whose primary motivation is building and maintaining long-term social relationships with humans. The initial application focus of this research is to provide companionship and social support and to promote wellness for older adults who are living alone. For example, during a typical day, an always-on relational agent might play a social game of cards with the adult, act as an exercise coach and help arrange visits or phone calls with the adult's family and friends. A new integrated theory of social agency, called SharedPlans Relationship Theory, will be developed to serve as a principled foundation for these relational agents. The theory will be grounded in an always-on relational software architecture, which will be distributed as open-source for others to use and extend. Using a participatory design process, including home and laboratory studies, the target user population will help develop the specifications for a relational agent, which will then be constructed using the theory and software architecture, and placed in users' homes for long-term (month or more) longitudinal evaluation. This project will make fundamental, theoretical contributions to models of relationship, sociality, interactional engagement and social support. The effort will also produce new insights into how people in general, and older adults in particular, enact social support at the relational, activity and micro-behavioral levels of analysis. The new always-on relational software architecture will be a fundamental advance over current agent architectures, which only support brief, focused interactions around a well-specified task. This architecture will also support incremental extension of agent capabilities and be able to control either virtual and robotic agent embodiments. Social isolation is a broadly troubling trend in modern society. Always-on relational agents have the potential to counteract this isolation both directly, by providing companionship, and as intermediaries, by putting isolated people in contact with other people, both electronically and physically. Companionship and social support are also known to be significant positive factors in disease recovery and mortality, especially for older adults. The application focus of this project therefore has the potential for helping with health care cost control.

这个项目将创建一个新的智能，自主的虚拟或机器人代理，这是不断操作和与人类互动-总是-很长一段时间，其主要动机是建立和维护与人类的长期社会关系。这项研究的最初应用重点是提供陪伴和社会支持，并促进独居老年人的健康。例如，在一个典型的一天，一个永远在线的关系代理可能会和成年人玩社交游戏，充当锻炼教练，并帮助安排与成年人的家人和朋友的访问或电话。一个新的综合理论的社会机构，称为SharedPlans关系理论，将开发作为这些关系代理的原则基础。该理论将基于一个始终在线的关系软件架构，该架构将作为开源软件分发，供其他人使用和扩展。使用一个参与性的设计过程，包括家庭和实验室研究，目标用户群体将帮助开发的关系代理的规格，然后将使用的理论和软件架构构建，并放置在用户的家庭进行长期（月或更长时间）的纵向评估。该项目将对关系，社会性，互动参与和社会支持的模型做出基本的理论贡献。这项工作还将产生新的见解，人们一般，特别是老年人，制定社会支持的关系，活动和微观行为水平的分析。新的始终在线的关系软件架构将是对当前代理架构的根本性进步，当前代理架构仅支持围绕明确指定的任务进行简短的集中交互。该架构还将支持代理能力的增量扩展，并且能够控制虚拟和机器人代理实施例。社会孤立是现代社会中一个普遍令人不安的趋势。永远在线的关系代理人有可能直接通过提供陪伴来抵消这种孤立，并作为中介，通过电子和物理方式将孤立的人与其他人联系起来。同伴和社会支持也是疾病康复和死亡率的重要积极因素，特别是对老年人来说。因此，该项目的应用重点有可能有助于医疗保健成本控制。