October 20, 2018
Summer Updates and Kicking Off the Fall Directed Research Group
Blog post written by Christina Nelson
The Project EMAR team is entering year two of research! With a new Directed Research Group taking place this fall, the team is looking forward to a great year of research and developing a social robot to help with teen stress.
Taking time to reflect over the summer
Last year we learned a lot about teens, stress and social robots. After the successful Social Robot Design Showcase, we took some time to reflect on all the data we collected.
We learned that high school environments are so diverse that we will need a platform that will allow EMAR to be customized for a particular environment.
Project EMAR Team at end of summer retreat
Giving teens lots of choices
Understanding the diverse needs of teens, our team will be designing and testing a platform where there will be different apps and features that schools can customize.
This year, our Fall DRG team members will be focusing on one of the main features in each of the categories we came up with at our summer retreat:
Fall Quarter 2018 DRG Team
Ambient Presence Apps
Ambient presence apps aim to alleviate teen stress when the teen just wants to have someone there for them, or when they wish they were somewhere else. Ambient presence apps will run while the teen is performing another activity near the robot, including eating, studying, or thinking. While the teen is engaged in something else, the robot will relax the teen by providing music or breathing calmly.
Teen Data Apps
Data input apps will allow the teen to share stress-related data with EMAR. Teens will be able to rate their stress levels on a scale of 1-100, gain answers to their question about what they are feeling, and receive stress stories. This way, teens can reflect on their stress by articulating, quantifying, and sharing their stress. This will also provide the community with better anonymous and aggregate data on stress in teens.
Teen/Community Data Visualization Apps
EMAR will also reflect data back through a series of visualizations for teens or the community who can access the aggregate data on stress that EMAR collects. In doing so, the community will gain access to better aggregate data on stress.
Robot Giving Apps
When interacting with giving apps, the teen receives something from the robot. Gifts can take form either digitally or tangibly. A teen could receive a cute picture, a hug, chocolate, or an affirmative message. For this fall, we’re focused on designing digital gifts that EMAR can give to teens.
Up Next…Ideation with teens
Our Fall DRG members are working hard to come up with sketches and storyboards to share in local schools with teens. We are looking forward to sharing our findings with you in the weeks to come!
