Individuals with tetraplegia have their independence and quality of life severely affected. Assistive robotic arms can enhance their autonomy, but effective control interfaces are essential for optimizing their usability and performance. This study aims to evaluate the performance and user experience of three control interfaces for an assistive robotic arm: Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), Embedded Interface, and Directional Gaze. Thirty-three able-bodied participants were recruited to control an assistive robotic arm through the three different interfaces in a between-subjects experiment. Performance was measured using the Yale-CMU-Berkeley (YCB) Block Pick and Place Protocol. Usability (SUS) and task, workload (NASATLX) were measured through subjective questionnaires. Additionally, we report saccades per minute and fixation duration. The results revealed statistically significant differences showing that Embedded and GUI interfaces, when compared to the Directional Gaze interface, can lead to lower workloads and higher performance in pick-up tasks.

Eye-gaze stands out as an intuitive interface for hands-free control of robotic devices due to its brief training time, fast calibration, low invasiveness, and reduced complexity and cost. However, current approaches are limited by available screen space, excessive wait times, frequent context switching, inconsistent gaze tracker accuracy, and the trade-off between feature-richness and usability. This article presents Diegetic Graphical User Interfaces, a novel, intuitive, and computationally inexpensive approach for gaze-controlled interfaces applied to a robotic arm for precision pick-and-place tasks. By using customizable symbols paired with fiducial markers, interactive buttons are defined and embedded into the robot, which users can trigger via gaze. Twenty-one participants completed the Yale-CMU-Berkeley (YCB) Block Pick and Place Protocol, reporting good usability and user experience, while achieving comparable workload to similar systems. The resulting system is fast to learn, does not restrain the user’s head, and mitigates context switching, while demonstrating intuitive control continuous Cartesian control of a robot arm in precision tasks.

Robot swarms are decentralised systems that use simple rules to achieve collective goals, yet their real-world deployment is limited by a lack of understanding of human trust and perception. This study examines how swarm motion affects the trust of novice users in a service-oriented swarm, using an automated cloakroom as a test case. We conducted 20 human trials, where participants interacted with a swarm exhibiting either structured (grid-like) or organic (adaptive) motion, with performance controlled across conditions. Trust and perception were assessed via self-reporting questionnaires and eye-tracking data. Results indicate that performance and reliability, rather than motion, are the key drivers of trust. However, motion influenced perceived predictability, highlighting its role in designing transparent and user-friendly swarm systems.

The affordability and functionality of hand prosthetics in developing countries are still very limited. This work aims to present and evaluate the new version of the PrHand affordable robotic prosthesis (PrHand V3), built with soft robotics and compliant mechanisms. PrHand V3 implements a new frictionless tendon unification system, the degree of freedom of thumb opposition was removed, and the finger flexion was improved to the previous version, PrHand V2. The study contributes by evaluating these mechanical changes and conducting the first functional assessment of PrHand V3 with an amputee user. The Anthropomorphic Hand Assessment Protocol (AHAP) dexterity test was the first evaluation in this work; it evaluated how the prosthesis performs eight different grips. PrHand V3 was compared with a PrHand V2 and a commercial robotic prosthesis A3D from Prótesis Avanzadas SAS. PrHand V3’s score on the AHAP test was 80%. This result is higher than the 69% obtained by the PrHand V2 and the 79% obtained by A3D. The Activities Measure for Upper Limb Amputees (AM-ULA) test was the second evaluation in this work; An A3D amputee user performed 23 Activities of Daily Living with PrHand V3 and an A3D. PrHand V3 obtained an average of 2.86/4 and A3D obtained an average of 2.96/4 without significant differences between the two tests. The soft actuation of PrHand V3 as an affordable prosthesis performs similarly to a commercial robotic prosthesis with the advantage of being more flexible to assist a trans-radial hand amputee.

This study investigates the efficacy of a haptic interface, aiming to offer the walking frame users accurate, intuitive, and easily understandable directional cues. The research introduces a novel haptic feedback interface incorporated into a walking frame to enhance navigation assistance. The haptic handle encompasses three distinct haptic feedback modalities: vibration, skin stretch, and combined feedback. Ten participants, all in good health, engaged with the haptic handle for navigation. Across all three haptic feedback methods, 60% of participants found the combined feedback to be the most effective, while 40% favoured the vibration feedback; none selected the skin-stretch feedback. Comparative analysis revealed significant disparities between vibration and combined input regarding velocity (p-value: 0.04). These findings emphasize the haptic handle’s capacity to give users an instinctive perception of directional cues, thus offering a promising avenue for assistive navigation.

Lower-limb exoskeletons and smart walkers are robotic devices to assist patients in regaining their autonomy after a stroke. The integration of these devices enables gait rehabilitation and functional compensation, promoting natural over-ground walking. This article presents the Adaptable Robotic Platform for Gait Rehabilitation and Assistance (AGoRA V2 platform), which integrates the new AGoRA V2 Smart Walker and the AGoRA V2 unilateral lower-limb exoskeleton. It was evaluated with 14 healthy subjects using physiological and kinematic variables and a perception assessment. The study entailed four conditions: Without exoskeleton (WOE), With Exoskeleton (WE&T), With Walker (WW), and With Platform (WP). Results indicate a reduction in the muscle activity of the Rectus Femoris (18%) and Vastus Lateralis (15%), comparing WE&T and WP, as well as walking without any device (WOE) and using any robotic device (WE&T, WW, WP). Results suggest the importance of combining the exoskeleton with the robotic walker and the assistance of each device independently. Moreover, using the complete platform induces slower gait patterns than the walker, as the mean impulse force and linear velocity decrease by 42% and 44%, respectively. These results demonstrate that the platform contributes to safety, and improvements in gait parameters and muscular activity, indicating the system's potential to act as a modular device according to users' conditions and therapeutic goals.

This paper presents a longitudinal case study of Robot Assisted Therapy for cardiac rehabilitation. The patient, who is a 60-year old male that suffered a myocardial infarction and received angioplasty surgery, successfully recovered after 35 sessions of rehabilitation with a social robot, lasting 18 weeks. The sessions took place directly at the clinic and relied on an exercise regime which was designed by the clinicians and delivered with the support of a social robot and a sensor suite. The robot monitored the patient's progress, and provided personalised encouragement and feedback. We discuss the recovery of the patient and illustrate how the use of a social robot, its sensory systems and its personalised interaction was instrumental to maintain engagement with the programme and to the patient's recovery. Of note is a critical event that was promptly detected by the robot, which allowed fast intervention measures to be taken by the medical staff for the referral of the patient for further surgery.

Exercising is strongly recommended for prevention and treatment of pathologies with high prevalence such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that insufficient physical activity is one of the leading risk factors for death worldwide. The decrease of physical activity in our society is not just an individual problem but it is influenced by a variety of environmental and social factors. Hence, it is important to target this issue from a multi-perspective and interdisciplinary point of view. This full-day workshop will offer a forum for researchers from a variety of backgrounds to discuss the potentials and limitations of using social robots to promote physical activity.

Smart Walkers are robotic devices commonly used to improve physical stability and sensory support for people with lower limb weakness or cognitive impairments. Even though such devices offer continuous monitoring during gait rehabilitation, empowering therapists to reduce efforts during gait therapies is an interesting research topic. In this context, a new strategy to remote-operate and perceive a walker-assisted gait therapy using a joystick is presented. Three operational modes were configured into a joystick to provide cognitive and physical interaction, such as no feedback mode, light feedback mode and force feedback mode. Results from a usability and acceptance questionnaire showed better participant's understating of light feedback mode, and higher effort perception under force feedback mode. This interaction strategy represents a potential joystick application as a monitoring and control interface in walker-assisted gait.