Exploring the Role of Robots in Interactive Art with the Silver Generation

This study investigates the integration of intelligent assistants in mediating communication for elderly couples, focusing on addressing key barriers such as emotional expression difficulties, listening inconsistency, insufficient emotional support, conflict resolution challenges, trust issues, and decision-making differences. It proposes three roles for intelligent assistants—mediation assistant, autonomous third-party assistant, and external contact proxy assistant, that aim to improve communication, facilitate conflict resolution, and foster emotional bonds by addressing both internal and external influences. While intelligent assistants are often used to support social engagement and alleviate loneliness, most research focuses on individual interactions or telepresence rather than the dynamics of elderly couples. Through a mixed-methods approach, this study examines communication patterns and conflict resolution strategies, followed by participatory design to explore elderly couples' preferences and potential scenarios for intelligent assistants as mediators. The findings provide valuable insights for designing intelligent assistants tailored to cultural and gender-specific differences in communication dynamics.