Development of a Robotic Agent for Increasing Elderlies Socialization

Social isolation is an increasingly felt problem in the elderly population and can significantly affect life quality. This paper describes the development process of a social robot that helps socialization among the elderly. The applied process consists of 5 main steps: desktop and literature research, user field research (observation and expert interviews), opportunity definition, and solution conceptualization, followed by a prototype development phase and a user tests phase. As a result, a companion robot called TIP (Therapy for Isolated People) was developed to help seniors participate in socializing activities by building a stable social network.