Investigating Experiences with a Robot Teaching Children Self-Management: A Field Trial

Earlier research [1] suggests that a social robot can contribute to gaining self-management skills for children with diabetes. In the current study, the positive effect of different robot characteristics of a social robot is investigated in a natural environment with end-users. The NAO robot played an interactive trivia game with eight children with diabetes, which was video-recorded. After the study children filled in a questionnaire and parents were interviewed. Combining the data provided several findings: movements of the robot were entertaining, not all children appreciated eye contact and expressions contributed to bonding. These results can be used to improve interactions between children and human-like robots.