Medi, Social Human-Robot Interaction in Pediatric Health

Aghel Manesh, Setareh

Medi, Social Human-Robot Interaction in Pediatric Health

dc.contributor.advisor	Sharlin, Ehud
dc.contributor.author	Aghel Manesh, Setareh
dc.contributor.committeemember	Oehlberg, Lora
dc.contributor.committeemember	Cheatham, Michelle
dc.contributor.committeemember	Elhajj, Reda S.
dc.date	2024-11
dc.date.accessioned	2024-10-16T18:59:03Z
dc.date.available	2024-10-16T18:59:03Z
dc.date.issued	2024-09-19
dc.description.abstract	This research explores how we can help a person – particularly a child – in a real-world stressful situation, such as a medical procedure, cope with pain and anxiety by using an interactive, empathetic robot as a social companion. To demonstrate this, we designed and implemented behaviours for a humanoid robot called Medi through iterative prototyping, testing, and refining. We then tested Medi’s behaviours in situ during a blood draw procedure at Alberta Children’s Hospital: our goal (and thesis) was to see if Medi could help children overcome the stress and pain associated with the blood test and consequently improve their overall experience. Using a Wizard of Oz methodology, we had Medi engage the child in an affectionate conversation using physical and verbal interactions. Between the iterative design process and the testing at the hospital, we ran just under a hundred study sessions with 97 participants. We gathered and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data by collecting questionnaires and videotaping the sessions, where our results generally show that an empathetic interactive social robot such as Medi does indeed help children cope with pain and anxiety and improve their experience.
dc.identifier.citation	Aghel Manesh, S. (2024). Medi, social human-robot interaction in pediatric health (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119847
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Science
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Human-Robot Interaction
dc.subject	Human-Computer Interaction
dc.subject	Social Robots
dc.subject	Child Robot Interaction
dc.subject	Interaction Design
dc.subject	Pain Management in Children
dc.subject	HRI
dc.subject	HCI
dc.subject	Pediatric Health Robots
dc.subject.classification	Computer Science
dc.title	Medi, Social Human-Robot Interaction in Pediatric Health
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Computer Science
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.