While social robots bring new opportunities for education, they also come with moral challenges. Therefore, there is a need for moral guidelines for the responsible implementation of these robots. When developing such guidelines, it is important to include different stakeholder perspectives. Existing …

Hospitalisation is stressful for children. Play material is often offered for distraction and comfort. Weexplored how contact with social robot PLEO could positively affect a child’s well-being. To this end, we performed a multiple case study on the paediatric ward of two hospitals. Child life specialists …

Robotic services, which have started to appear in urban environments, are going to transform our society. Designers of these robots are not only required to meet technical and legal challenges, but also address the potential social, political, and ethical consequences of their design choices. In this …

This study aimed (1) to examine the contribution of robot ZORA in achieving therapeutic and educational goals in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities, and (2) to discover the roles professionals attribute to robot ZORA when it is used in robot-based play …

By studying the population pyramid of the Netherlands, two notable trends can be observed: the increase in 'grey pressure ' (population 65 and older, the upcoming 'baby boom generation ') and the decrease in the number of babies born. These trends are noticeable in the spectrum of care, where the population …

Recent textile innovations have significantly transformed both the material structures of fibers and fabrics as well as their sphere of use and applications.At the same time, new recycling concepts and methods to re-­-use textile waste are rapidly being developed and many new ways to make use of recycled …

Purpose Currently, most technology (robotics, smart homes, etc) that has been developed for the healthcare sector are difficult in use, expensive and often not affordable for individual persons in their home situation. Affordable innovations that activate people instead of taking tasks over can be a …

Emotional factors related to aging at home assistive technology are known to affect technology acceptance, effective use, and quality of life improvement. This paper is a survey on the affective dimension of robot-based systems conceived for helping elderly at home. The specificity of elders’ capabilities …

This paper presents an analysis of two comparable studies with LEGO Robotics-based activities in a social skills training program for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). One study has been carried out with a group of 16 children in the Unit of Pediatrics Psychology and Psychiatry in HSJD in …