1,720,974 research outputs found
Robotic mental well-being coaches for the workplace: An in-the-wild study on form
No full textThe World Health Organization recommends that employers take action to protect and promote mental well-being at work. However, the extent to which these recommended practices can be implemented in the workplace is limited by the lack of resources and personnel availability. Robots have been shown to have great potential for promoting mental well-being, and the gradual adoption of such assistive technology may allow employers to overcome the aforementioned resource barriers. This paper presents the frst study that investigates the deployment and use of two diferent forms of robotic well-being coaches in the workplace in collaboration with a tech company whose employees (26 coachees) interacted with either a QTrobot (QT) or a Misty robot (M). We endowed the robots with a coaching personality to deliver positive psychology exercises over four weeks (one exercise per week). Our results show that the robot form signifcantly impacts coachees' perceptions of the robotic coach in the workplace. Coachees perceived the robotic coach in M more positively than in QT (both in terms of behaviour appropriateness and perceived personality), and they felt more connection with the robotic coach in M. Our study provides valuable insights for robotic well-being coach design and deployment, and contributes to the vision of taking robotic coaches into the real world
Adaptive Robotic MentalWell-being Coaches
No full textMental well-being issues such as anxiety and depression are increasing, and as provisions by healthcare systems are insufficient to meet people's needs, new technology is being used to improve mental well-being. In this doctoral thesis, we examine the iterative and user-centred design, implementation and evaluation of a robotic mental well-being coach-i.e., a robot that could help people maintain and focus on their well-being. In this article, we discuss the studies we have already conducted. These have examined coach and user preferences, the design of a robotic well-being coach, how to computationally implement such a coach, and how such a robot is experienced in the short (laboratory setting) and long term (workplace setting). We then discuss future work, which includes data analysis of a longitudinal study where a robotic coach interacted with a group, the implementation and testing of an longitudinal adaptation model for the robotic coach, and a survey of the state of the art in affective robotics for well-being
Robotic Coaches Delivering Group Mindfulness Practice at a Public Cafe
No full textGroup meditation is known to keep people motivated and committed over longer periods of time, as compared to individual practice. Robotic coaching is a promising avenue for engaging people in group meditation and mindfulness exercises. However, the deployment of robotic coaches to deliver group mindfulness sessions in real-world settings is very scarce. We present the first steps in deploying a robotic mindfulness coach at a public cafe, where participants could join robot-led meditation sessions in a group setting. We conducted two studies with two robotic coaches: the toy-like Misty II robot for 4 weeks ( = 4), and the child-like QTrobot for 3 weeks ( = 3). This paper presents an exploratory qualitative analysis of the data collected via group discussions after the sessions, and researcher observations during the sessions. Additionally, we discuss the lessons learned and future work related to deploying a robotic coach in a real-world group setting
Understanding Non-Verbal Irony Markers: Machine Learning Insights Versus Human Judgment
No full textIrony detection is a complex task that often stumps both humans, who frequently misinterpret ironic statements, and artifcial intelligence (AI) systems. While the majority of AI research on irony detection has concentrated on linguistic cues, the role of non-verbal cues like facial expressions and auditory signals has been largely overlooked. This paper investigates the efectiveness of machine learning models in recognizing irony using solely non-verbal cues. To this end, we conducted the following experiments and analysis: (i) we trained and evaluated some machine-learning models to detect irony; (ii) we compared the results with human interpretations; and (iii) we analysed and identifed multi-modal non-verbal irony markers. Our research demonstrates that machine learning models trained on nonverbal data have shown signifcant promise in detecting irony, outperforming human judgments in this task. Specifcally, we found that certain facial action units and acoustic characteristics of speech are key indicators of irony expression. These non-verbal cues, often overlooked in traditional irony detection methods, were efectively identifed by machine learning models, leading to improved accuracy in detecting irony
Reflex: Adaptive learning beyond the screen
No full textThe demo introduces Reflex, a phy-gital game for children and adolescents with Neuro-Developmental Disorder. The game, offered through a cross-platform application for smartphones and tablets, bridges the digital and the physical worlds by tracking, via a bottom-looking mirror positioned on the device camera, physical items placed on a table. This new interaction paradigm, the first pilot study and its adaptability to each user profile reveals an unexplored potential for learning
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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