Robots as Mental Well-being Coaches

Design and Ethical Recommendations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22190826
AutoresMinja Axelsson (0000-0002-1101-2539, University of Cambridge), Micol Spitale (0000-0002-3418-1933, Politecnico di Milano), Hatice Gunes (0000-0003-2407-3012, University of Cambridge)
Año2024
Volumen13
Número2
Páginas1-55
Fecha de publicación2024-06-30
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2573-9522 • E-ISSN: 2573-9522
EditorialAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1145/3643457
OpenAlexW4391840620
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas82

The last decade has shown a growing interest in robots as well-being coaches. However, insightful guidelines for the design of robots as coaches to promote mental well-being have not yet been proposed. This article details design and ethical recommendations based on a qualitative analysis drawing on a grounded theory approach, which was conducted with a three-step iterative design process which included user-centered design studies involving robotic well-being coaches, namely: (1) a user-centred design study conducted with 11 participants consisting of both prospective users who had participated in a Brief Solution-Focused Practice study with a human coach, as well as coaches of different disciplines, (2) semi-structured individual interview data gathered from 20 participants attending a Positive Psychology intervention study with the robotic well-being coach Pepper, and (3) a user-centred design study conducted with 3 participants of the Positive Psychology study as well as 2 relevant well-being coaches. After conducting a thematic analysis and a qualitative analysis, we collated the data gathered into convergent and divergent themes, and we distilled from those results a set of design guidelines and ethical considerations. Our findings can inform researchers and roboticists on the key aspects to take into account when designing robotic mental well-being coaches

Grounded theory · Human–computer interaction · Qualitative research · Robot · Sociology · Thematic analysis · User-Centered Design · Applied Psychology · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Digital Mental Health Interventions · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence