NRI: Robot-Assisted Longitudinal Physical and Cognitive Exercise Interventions for Older Veterans

这项拟议的研究将研究机器人中介的身体和认知锻炼活动的影响。 对于老年人的健康，特别是当干预是与利益相关者一起设计的时候(例如， 熟练的护理设施工作人员和住院医生)在循环中，并能够适应用户能力的变化 过度纵向使用(使用锻炼活动中内置的评估来衡量)。作为全世界的 老年人人口的增长，需要新的资源来支持老年人的健康 社区也在崛起。特别是，可供鼓励的资源已经存在局限性。 这些成员的身体活动、认知锻炼、社交联系和娱乐 社区。因此，为了确保老年人的健康老龄化机会，迫切需要(1) 设计自主机器人系统以支持这些类型的需求，(2)使这些系统具备 能够随着时间的推移学习和适应，以保持相关性和兴趣，以及(3)部署这些机器人 系统在感兴趣的环境中的较长时间段。 建议的工作在其研究团队、建议的锻炼活动、跟踪用户的方法上是独一无二的 能力水平，以及考虑在感兴趣的真实环境中进行长期部署。私人侦探的 与一名老年学家(作为高级人员)和当地熟练护理机构(作为关键)建立伙伴关系 Collaborator)从项目开始就支持此项目成功调查新的 机器人部署应用程序。拟议的演练活动，最初是在PI过去的原型 工作，根据活动的不同程度地结合身体和认知因素，从而 与单纯的体育锻炼相比，鼓励更多的精神投入到体育任务中通常会 收益率(反之亦然)。同样，随着时间的推移，练习的更新支持继续参与 机器人系统和技能的提高，这是大多数当前工具所不允许的。最后， 计划的纵向部署有助于了解这种类型的机器人系统如何 对老年人的健康(例如，身体、认知和心理健康)有意义的变化。 相关性(请参阅说明)： 这一方案的核心研究目标是以人为本的设计和长期部署 能够促进老年人社区健康的机器人(例如，辅助生活社区，熟练的 护理设施)。根据NIA的利益，该项目将进行参与式机器人干预 与老年人和熟练的护理设施利益相关者一起设计，执行设计-建造-测试周期 最终的机器人干预系统，并评估机器人系统对健康相关指标的影响。

The proposed research will study the effects of robot-mediated physical and cognitive exercise activities on older adult wellness, in particular when the intervention has been designed with stakeholders (e.g., skilled nursing facility staff and residents) in the loop and with the ability to adapt to changes in user ability over longitudinal use (as measured using assessments built into the exercise activities). As the worldwide population of older adults grows, the need for new resources to support wellness in older adult communities also rises. In particular, limitations are already present in resources available to encourage physical activity, cognitive exercise, social connectedness, and entertainment for members of these communities. Thus, to ensure healthy aging opportunities for older adults, there is a critical need to (1) design autonomous robotic systems to support these types of needs, (2) enable these systems with the ability to learn and adapt over time to maintain relevance and interest, and (3) to deploy these robotic systems for extended periods of time in the environments of interest. The proposed work is unique in its research team, proposed exercise activities, methods of tracking user ability levels, and consideration of long-term deployments in real environments of interest. The PIs' partnership with a gerontologist (as Senior Personnel) and local skilled nursing facility (as a key collaborator) from the start of the project supports this project's ability to successfully investigate a new robot deployment application. The proposed exercise activities, as initially prototyped in the PI's past work, combine physical and cognitive elements to different degrees depending on the activity, thereby encouraging more mental engagement with physical tasks than pure physical exercise would typically yield (and vice versa). Similarly, the updating of exercises over time supports continued engagement with the robotic system and skill improvement in ways that most current tools do not allow for. Lastly, the planned longitudinal deployment facilitates understanding how this type of robotic system can lead to meaningful change in wellness (e.g., physical, cognitive, and psychological well-being) for older adults. RELEVANCE (See instructions): The core research goal of this proposal centers on the human-centered design and long-term deployment of robots that can promote wellness in older adult communities (e.g., assisted living communities, skilled nursing facilities). In alignment with NIA interests, the project will conduct participatory robotic intervention design with older adult and skilled nursing facility stakeholders, perform design-build-test cycles of the resultant robotic intervention systems, and evaluate robotic system impact on health-related metrics.