How can technology help older adults stay socially connected when face-to-face interaction is difficult? A recent study by the Media Psychology and Media Design Group at TU Ilmenau explored this question using a telepresence robot that enables video-based communication with distant contacts.
In a laboratory study, 14 older adults in Germany tested the robot in navigational and interpersonal communication tasks. The research investigated how successfully participants could operate the robot, as well as their perceived enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness, social presence, and intention to use robot-mediated communication in the future.
Results showed that most participants were able to use the telepresence robot effectively and reported high levels of enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness, and social presence. Many considered robot-mediated communication a suitable alternative when in-person meetings were not possible. Only two participants indicated no long-term intention to use such a system.
The findings suggest that telepresence robots can meaningfully support social interaction and integration among older adults—particularly when their physical, psychological, and social needs are taken into account.
- Conde, M., Fischedick, S., Richter, K., Arboleda, S. A., Gross, H. M., Raake, A., & Doering, N. (2025). “The robot should be programmed for me”: User tests evaluating a telepresence robot for the social integration of older adults. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1145/3770851