AI-Enhanced Healthcare and Eldercare Delivery Using Non-Intrusive Sensors and Physical Robots: An Exploratory Study

Many countries world-wide are facing the public health challenge of caring for an aging population. Meanwhile, there is a belief that in care settings unobtrusive sensors and physical robots will eventually address this challenge. However, research into factors influencing older users' acceptance of such technology in these environments has received little attention. This paper describes a study undertaken in a UK care home ‘living lab' environment exploring older people's preferences for sensors and robots. An in-depth qualitative study examined the preferences of a cross-section of 21 older adults (aged 81-99) in the care home setting. In addition to two dimensions (usefulness and ease-of-use) included in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework, the importance of other elements such as physical appearance, functionality, cost, trust and control were investigated. The resulting framework is presented to support future co-design of sensors and robots with older adults.