Older adults, a growing demographic, face an increased risk of experiencing loneliness and are less exposed to emerging communication technologies. Augmented reality (AR) avatars and telepresence robots have been proposed as tools to foster social connection, yet their suitability for older users remains underexplored. We present an exploratory study with ten healthy older adults who engaged in both conversational and spatial collaboration tasks using AR avatar-mediated communication, robot-mediated communication, and face-to-face interaction. We collected self-reported measures of co-presence, social presence, closeness, uncanny valley, preferences, and open feedback. Our findings suggest that telepresence robots enhanced co-presence, while avatars were valued for their expressivity and humanlike qualities. Task type influenced co-presence in spatial collaboration only during communication using the telepresence robot. Other measures, such as social presence and closeness, were unaffected by task type or representation. While neither technology outperformed face-to-face interaction, both were positively received, underscoring their potential to address the social needs of older adults and highlighting the importance of enhancing nonverbal expressivity, particularly nonverbal cues in mediated communication. Ultimately, our results contribute to the fundamental understanding of mediated communication with older adults, motivating further empirical work to confirm and extend these findings.

Telepresence robots that allow communication between older adults and their remotely located social contacts can foster social integration. The present laboratory test study explores older adults’ successful use of a telepresence robot (Research Question 1 [RQ1]), as well as their perceived enjoyment (RQ2), perceived ease of use (RQ3), perceived usefulness (RQ4), perceived social presence (RQ5), and intention to use (RQ6) a telepresence robot for robot-mediated communication (RMC). Semi-structured interviews, observations, and questionnaires were applied with a group of N = 14 older adults living in Germany. Participants completed a navigational task (as remote users) and an interpersonal communication task (as local users). Results show older adults used the telepresence robot successfully (RQ1) during the tasks. Furthermore, in interviews, older adults described their perceived enjoyment (RQ2), perceived ease of use (RQ3), and perceived usefulness (RQ4) during RMC as generally high. Perceived social presence (RQ5) during RMC was generally described as high, with RMC being considered a viable substitute when face-to-face communication is not possible. Finally, only two participants (2/14) had no intention to use (RQ6) a telepresence robot in the long term. Future design recommendations are provided, such as adapting the telepresence robot’s functions to older adults physical, psychological, and social conditions.

Given the profound impact of staying socially connected on the well-being of older adults, this study explores the potential of augmented reality (AR) systems to enrich their social lives. A wearable AR communication system prototype was developed and tested in a user study involving N = 16 older adults from Germany. Participants wore an AR headset and engaged in a conversation task with a remote person represented by an avatar. Older adults’ experiences were assessed using think-aloud protocols, qualitative observations, posttest questionnaires, and semi-structured oral interviews. Preliminary findings indicate overall participant satisfaction, with minimal observed difficulties in headset usage and avatar-mediated interpersonal communication. The positive engagement during AR conversations highlights the system’s potential to provide positive communication experiences among older individuals. This work-in-progress paper introduces the developed system prototype and outlines the conducted user study. Further data analyses will provide deeper insights into older adults’ experiences with the system. The results will contribute to refining the prototype and offer valuable insights for the development of AR communication systems tailored to the needs and preferences of older adults.

Augmented reality (AR) presents vivid opportunities for interpersonal communication. With the growing diversity of social AR users, understanding their unique needs and perceptions becomes crucial. This study delves into how younger, middle-aged, and older adults perceive avatars with different aging attributes and degrees of realism, focusing on their anticipated user experience within a social AR system. We conducted an online within-subjects experiment involving $N = 2086$ age-diverse participants from Germany who assessed a set of nine gender-matched avatars for their perceived social attractiveness (research question 1 = RQ1) and the likelihood of selecting these avatars for self-representation in social AR (RQ2). The evaluated avatars represented different age groups (younger, middle-aged, and older) and levels of realism (low, medium, and high). We validated both the created avatars and our experimental setup and employed a linear mixed-effects modeling approach to analyze the data. Our findings unveiled a strong preference for younger high-realism avatars as communication partners (RQ1), which was consistent across all participant age groups. Similarly, participants favored younger high-realism avatars for self-representation in social AR (RQ2). However, older adults were more inclined to opt for avatars resembling their actual age. The study highlights the prevalence of age-related stereotypes in avatar-based communication. Similar to face-to-face social interactions, these stereotypes tend to render older avatars less socially attractive than their younger counterparts, irrespective of the avatar’s degree of realism. Our results invite considerations on how to combat these stereotypes through a more thoughtful and inclusive avatar design process that encompasses a broader spectrum of aging attributes.

Although visual attention cues are of particular importance for driving simulation tasks, research on the relationship of visual attention and simulator sickness is scarce. This exploratory study is aimed at investigating this relation with a laboratory study in a fixed-based driving simulator (N = 36). No correlation between visual attention and simulator sickness was shown, but the direction of the relation shows a negative tendency.

This paper presents the implementation and evaluation results of the German research project SERROGA (2012 till mid 2015), which aimed at developing a robot companion for domestic health assistance for older people that helps keeping them physically and mentally fit to remain living independently in their own homes for as long as possible. The paper gives an overview of the developed companion robot, its system architecture, and essential skills, behaviors, and services required for a robotic health assistant. Moreover, it presents a new approach allowing a quantitative description and assessment of the navigation complexity of apartments to make them objectively comparable for function tests under real-life conditions. Based on this approach, the results of function tests executed in 12 apartments of project staff and seniors are described. Furthermore, the paper presents findings of a case study conducted with nine seniors (aged 68-92) in their own homes, investigating both instrumental and social-emotional functions of a robotic health assistant. The robot accompanied the seniors in their homes for up to three days assisting with tasks of their daily schedule and health care, without any supervising person being present on-site. Results revealed that the seniors appreciated the robot's health-related instrumental functions and even built emotional bonds with it.

Realistic models in VR training applications are considered to positively influence presence and performance. The experimental study presented analyzed the effect of simulation fidelity (static vs. animated audience) on presence, perceived realism, and anxiety in a virtual speech anxiety training application. No influence on presence and perceived realism was shown, although an animated audience led to significantly higher effects in anxiety during giving a talk.

Presentation skills that involve public speaking are an asset that many recognize to be important for their careers or during their study. One way to learn how to maintain eye contact and address clearly as a speaker is to use virtual audiences (VA) that simulate the reactions of a live public. A mixed-methods exploratory study has been conducted to conceptualize the design of such a VA. The purpose was to research how the nonverbal cues of live audiences vary depending on a speaker's gaze patterns (gazing towards the audience vs. gazing towards the presentation slides or notes) and vocal loudness (low vs. normal). 36 students (listeners) were videotaped during a public speaking situation. The analysis shows that the speaker's gaze patterns and vocal loudness influenced several nonverbal cues the audience displayed. The results could be implemented in the design of VAs by making them responsive in real time to variations in gazing patterns and voice loudness of the speakers (trainees).

Sound is an important part of an immersive virtual environment, contributing to immersion, presence, and user performance. The experimental study presented analyzed the effect of spatial-sound vs. no-sound display on presence experienced in a 3D virtual scene. Results indicate a medium to strong effect of spatial sound, leading to higher levels of presence experienced.

Virtual reality (VR) applications for fear of public speaking pose several design challenges with regard to the adaptability of the scenarios to the training/treatment requirements of each person. The present study focuses on three major aspects identified in literature that would help customize the virtual audience for fear of public speaking applications: interaction, group dynamics, and personalization. Eight experts from VR-related fields of study have been interviewed to share the expertise on how to achieve and implement these aspects.

A service robot should provide useful features, be easy to use and should have a friendly and accommodating behavior as social actor. This paper focuses on the last mentioned socio-emotional requirements. A marketable shopping robot was - based on the current state of research - equipped with an extraverted personality. The expectation was that this will improve the social acceptability of the robot. Based on an experimental field study (n=194 subjects) in a home improvement store this could be confirmed: The extravert designed shopping robot was perceived as more extraverted in comparison to the conventional version. Furthermore, the extraverted shopping robot received a higher social acceptance by the users than the conventional shopping robot.

Virtual Reality technology offers great possibilities for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Fear of Public Speaking: Clients can be exposed to virtual fear-triggering stimuli (exposure) and are able to role-play in virtual environments, training social skills to overcome their fear. This poster deals with the design of a realistic virtual presentation scenario based on an observation of a real audience.