From idle to interaction – assessing social dynamics and unanticipated conversations between social robots and residents with mild cognitive impairment in a nursing home

Abstract This paper examines the potential impact of social robots on people with mild cognitive impairments in a nursing home. Within a 4-month design case study, we investigated the practices, attitudes, and social contexts of residents with mild cognitive impairment and their caregivers and designed two prototype apps for a robotic-based system. Subsequently, 10 residents, the former nursing home manager, and one social caregiver participated in a prototype evaluation study for 10 weeks. The goal was to assess group-based user experience and social interactions. Qualitative results indicate that the system can support participants in their individual, social, and daily activities and, therefore, consequently initiate potentially meaningful interactions. One key observation from the video analysis was that the participants initiated unanticipated conversations with the robot, which we discuss regarding the prompting character, design appearance, and affordances of the robot in interaction.