Robots to be tested in the home
Danica Kragic is one of the researchers involved in a project to investigate how people in need of home care perceive robots and the level of acceptance for the technology.
What can the robots of the future contribute to home care and personal assistance? Researchers at KTH are set to investigate this in the recently launched SAInt research project.
The project was presented at KTH’s robotics lab to specially invited guests. There, KTH Deputy President Mikael Lindström emphasised that the research tackles major and important societal challenges.
"It is about making a tangible difference in people’s everyday lives, improving their quality of life. But also about looking ahead to the new opportunities that may open up", he said.
The aim of the project is to investigate how humanoid robots could assist older people and those with disabilities in their daily lives. The fact that researchers can now begin testing robotic assistance in a home environment is due to rapid technological developments in two key areas, explained Danica Kragic, Professor of Robotics and one of the researchers behind the project.
On the one hand, robots have become better at moving and working in environments where people live and spend their time. On the other hand, generative AI, together with language and vision models, has enabled robots to understand speech, interpret situations and reason about what is happening around them.
Support in practice
At the same time, research is still at an early stage when it comes to how humanoid robots can actually function as support in practice. The researchers want to find out what works in real-world situations and what limitations exist.
Another key question is how robots cope with unstructured environments such as homes and public spaces. A further consideration concerns how the robots’ design and movements affect people’s sense of security and trust, emphasised Kragic.
The robots will first be tested in KTH’s laboratory environment, the KTH Interaction and Robotics Lab, but the aim is also to test the technology in real-world environments. The focus is primarily on three groups: older people with mobility difficulties, people with cognitive impairments and people with autism.
The idea is that the robots should be able to understand the context of the home environment and help in a proactive way – without taking over completely.
"We don’t want the robots to do everything, just what is necessary. They should be a complement", said Kragic.
Fundamental questions
The researchers hope to find answers to several questions during the course of the project, although they do not expect to find answers to everything. Among other things, they want to understand how people perceive the robots and how widely accepted the technology is. For Danica Kragic, this is also one of the project’s most fundamental questions:
"Is the technology ready for humans, and are humans ready for the technology? We want to develop the technology so that it adapts better to humans".
The project also involves Joakim Gustafson, Professor of Speech Technology, who researches social robots and will be working on communication between humans and robots – for example, speech, gestures and eye contact. Noémie Jaquier, Assistant Professor of Robot Learning and Control, focuses on how robots can act safely in close proximity to humans.
Following the presentation, guests were given a tour of the laboratory and the simulated home environment where humanoid robots will be tested in realistic situations.
Text: Christer Gummeson ( gummeson@kth.se )
Photo: Susanne Kronholm