Adaptive Robotic Mental Well-being Coaches

Abstract

Mental well-being issues such as anxiety and depression are increasing, and as provisions by healthcare systems are insufficient to meet people's needs, new technology is being used to improve mental well-being. In this doctoral thesis, we examine the iterative and user-centred design, implementation and evaluation of a robotic mental well-being coach - i.e., a robot that could help people maintain and focus on their well-being. In this article, we discuss the studies we have already conducted. These have examined coach and user preferences, the design of a robotic well-being coach, how to computationally implement such a coach, and how such a robot is experienced in the short (laboratory setting) and long term (workplace setting). We then discuss future work, which includes data analysis of a longitudinal study where a robotic coach interacted with a group, the implementation and testing of an longitudinal adaptation model for the robotic coach, and a survey of the state of the art in affective robotics for well-being.