, Graham Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, and聽Kerstin Dautenhahn, Canada 150 Chair in Intelligent Robotics in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, have received a聽catalyst grant from the University of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Network for Aging Research聽to develop emotionally intelligent robots to help people with dementia. , Associate Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, and Jennifer Boger, Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering complete the multidisciplinary team.聽聽
More than half a million Canadians currently live with dementia, a group of symptoms caused most commonly by Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Dementia affects a person鈥檚 memory, thinking and social abilities. As it progresses, dementia interferes more and more with a person鈥檚 daily life and places an increasing burden on their caregivers. The cost of dementia to the healthcare system and caregivers is an estimated $10.4 billion per year, a figure expected to rise to $16.6 billion by 2031.
L to R: Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn, Canada 150 Chair in Intelligent Robotics (holding聽MiRo, a聽programmable autonomous biomimetic聽robot), Dr. Moojan Ghafurian, Graham Postdoctoral Fellow (holding聽NAO, an autonomous, programmable humanoid robot) and Associate Professor Jesse Hoey
鈥淚ntelligent assistive technologies can help people with dementia perform daily activities more independently and improve quality of lives,鈥 said Dr. Ghafurian. 鈥淥ur goal is to develop social robots that can successfully assist people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease in performing their daily activities. But along with being able to provide support to complete a task, it鈥檚 crucially important that social robots also be emotionally intelligent.鈥
Despite cognitive decline, people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease retain a sense of self and an understanding of who they are, both of which have strong emotional components. A robot鈥檚 ability to sense and adapt to a person鈥檚 identity and emotional state, and then to express appropriate emotions in response may be critical to persuade the person to perform common daily activities such as dressing or taking medication.聽
Although many studies show that the attitudes of older adults toward robots are generally favourable, few have examined how effective robotic assistants are for people with dementia.
鈥淚n the first phase of our project, we will conduct studies with people with dementia and their caregivers to identify the tasks for which a person with dementia may require help,鈥 Moojan said. 鈥淚n the study鈥檚 second phase, we鈥檒l co-design an assistive robot with people with dementia and their caregivers according to their needs and preferences. In the third phase, we鈥檒l evaluate the effectiveness of the social robots in helping a person with dementia.鈥
鈥淐ongratulations to Moojan and Kerstin on receiving this catalyst grant,鈥 said Mark Giesbrecht, Director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science.聽聽鈥淭his innovative research is extremely timely. Each year, 25,000 new cases of dementia are diagnosed in Canada. The research that Moojan and Kerstin are conducting will help people with dementia to live more independently, lower costs to the healthcare system and help reduce the burden on caregivers.鈥