TNO Human Factors/ Delft University of Technology

Distributed embodied ePartners in a ubiquitous computing environment

Mark Neerincx et al.

Human Factors

Introduction

Environments with more networked information

compilations and technical equipment.

Add a collection of distributed & connected

personal electronic partners, ePartners, to support

(distributed) human actors for specific tasks, like• health-care actions by diabetics, • technology use by elderly, and • disclosure of feelings in high-demand missions

Human Factors

ePartner: Human-Machine Collaboration

• Predicting the actors’ momentary needs• on-line gathering and modeling of human, machine, task and

context information

• Attuning the interaction to these needs• (semi-)automatic tailoring of support, content and dialogue to

establish optimal human-machine performance

• Establishing “natural” H-M communication• expressing and interpreting communicative acts based on a

common reference

Human Factors

Personal ePartner

• Sharing of experiences, learning and anticipation• Common goal, but different roles and responsibilities• Adequate distribution of workload • Not copy of a human, but a complement• Taking care of individual characteristics and context of operation• Adequate level of trust and affection• Quick understanding and natural communication (“one word is

enough”)

for specific goal and domain (e.g. self-care, daily

activities)

Human Factors

iCat as ePartner

TNO and DUT use the iCat to develop • models & prototypes for effective & social H-M

communication.

Research questions centre on • the sensing and generation of affective expressions

(face, voice), • the application of different communication and

assistance styles like “motivational interviewing” and

“cooperative anamnesis”, • the effects of the embodiment of an ePartner (e.g.

compared to a virtual character).

Human Factors

The SuperAssist Project

Personal assistants supporting distributed supervision ofcomplex task environments. Each human actor has an assistant for anomaly detection, diagnosis and communication

Human Factors

Focus on Tele- and Self-Care

• More patient’s involvement in the care process • Operating domestic medical instruments • Management of a computer-based patient record• Communication with medical & technical specialists

• Increasing number of older people• Chronic diseases: 50% non-adherence

• Diabetes Type II:• Large, increasing group• Typically older than 40• Pancreas produces too little insulin• Treatment involves diet, no-smoking, medication &

exercising

Human Factors

Bottlenecks in Diabetes Care

• Shortage of diabetes nurses

• High No-Show in diabetes policlinic

• Lack of information during consultation

• Fixed consultation frequency (every 3 months)

• Lack of involvement/motivation of patients

• Too brief consult for adequate feedback to patients

• Large increase in patient numbers

Human Factors

Supporting the Patient

• Usage of medical equipment• Human-assistant cooperation

• Health and lifestyle• Therapy adherence

• Automation of assistance• Human vs synthetic assistant

• Embodiment of the Assistant• Social behavior

• Tests should show improvements for• Patient behavior and opinion (e.g. trust)• Adequacy and “richness” of dialogue

Human Factors

First iCat Experiment

Goal: • Guidelines for adherence support• iCat alternative for “desk-top” interface

Background:• Health Buddy®

(Health Hero Network)

Human Factors

Guidelines

• Personal assistants• Fun• Trust• Cooperation

• Psychology/ motivational interviewing• Express empathy• Communicate respect• Listen rather than tell

• Social robots• Express and perceive emotions• Communicate with high-level dialogue• Use natural cues (gaze, gestures, etc.)

Human Factors

Three User Interfaces

Tiggie (Doellgroup) iCatText (“chat”)

Human Factors

Pilot Test

Social & non-social iCat or Tiggie, vs text-interface:• 6 participants• Scenarios:

• 3 types (diet, self-check, medication), but similar• Both open and closed questions• 4 question blocks: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

First results: Social iCat preferred• Trust• Acceptance• Empathy• Personality

Human Factors

Conclusions

Guidelines for Health Assistance• Trust • Fun• Cooperation• Express Empathy• Communicate respect• Listen rather than tell

Future experiments: • Elderly• Virtual iCat• Personalization• Dialogue management• Long-term effects• multi-Human – multi-ePartner

collaboration

Human Factors

Acknowledgement

• SuperAssist is partially funded by IOP-MMI Senter a program of the Dutch Ministry of Economics

• Three research institutes participate in the SuperAssist project: TNO, Delft University of Technology (DUT), and Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)

• Four companies are involved: Philips Research, Sigmax, Pemstar, Science & Technology

Specific contributions to this presentation:• Rosemarijn Looije (RUG/TNO)• Amy Ahluwalia (LUMC)• Olivier Blanson Henkemans (DUT/TNO)• Jasper Lindenberg (TNO)• Lennard Kuijten (UM/TNO)• Vanessa Sawirjo (DUT)

Human Factors

Questions?