Soft robots as minimal stimuli companions.

Challenge:
Many people in our society find themselves in situations of social isolation. This is a trend which is projected to continue to increase due to working from home culture and the ageing population. Accordingly, there is concern as the health consequences associated with isolation and loneliness can be costly to the individual and society. High levels of subjective loneliness are associated with greater likelihood to anthropomorphise objects (Shin & Kim, 2020). So, robotic provision of companionship is a high potential solution. Currently, many robots are available in humanoid or pet like form. However, this does not need to be the case. People respond in specific ways to more stripped back stimuli. The Bouba/Kiki effect demonstrates naming associations with particular shapes which are robustly independent of cultural and linguistic background (Peiffer-Smadj & Cohen, 2019). By moving away from the material limitations of hard structures, and form limitations of androids, there is potential to create robotic devices with greater appeal than current models through consideration of tactile factors and shape changing possibilities.
Aim:
This project aims to identify minimal characteristics which elicit positive emotional affect associated with companionship. Once identified, novel soft robotic solutions will be developed with a view to deliver a viable companion robot product.
Method:
There are key physical components which could be manipulated for emotional communication. Possibilities within soft robotics are the broad categories of skin, shape, locomotion, colour and temperature. In this project these will be explored through iterative cycles of prototype development and stakeholder feedback.
Timeline:
Months 1-6. The initial period will be allocated to a thorough literature review. Particular focus will be given to identifying novelty in the companion robotics market and understanding optimal (affordable and innovative) processes in soft robotic manufacture.
Months 7-9. This period will be reserved for extensive research into what people want from a companion robot. It is the initial stage of the co-design methodology and will be conducted through a range of research techniques such as interviews, focus groups and workshops.
Months 10-15. Six months will be dedicated here to development of a range of low fidelity protypes. These will explore the viabilty of physical realisation of features imagined within co-design workshops. They will also provide physical objects to show people and achieve greater design feedback.
Months 16-18. Feedback will be gathered here on the initial prototype range. Special attention will be paid to emotive qualities of the products.
Months 19-22. This period will be used to develop a develop a single high fidelity protype based on features selected from previous investigations. This will be developed with attention paid to minimal cost and fidelity to co-design requests.
Months 23-24. This prototype will be returned to the people and feedback gathered to inform final product design.
Months 25-36. The final phase will be focussed on design and creation of this product. This will be preferably in conjunction with the technology incubator with a view to deliver the robot to the people.

References
Peiffer-Smadja, N. and Cohen, L. The cerebral bases of the bouba-kiki effect. NeuroImage 186, 679-689 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.11.033.
Shin, H.I., Kim, J. My computer is more thoughtful than you: Loneliness, anthropomorphism and dehumanization. Curr Psychol 39, 445-453 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9975-7

Impact on Health and Care
The CDT primarily addresses the most pressing needs of nations such as the UK - namely the growth of expenditure on long term health conditions. These conditions (e.g. diabetes, depression, arthritis) cost the NHS over £70Bn a year (~70% of its budget). As our populations continue to age these illnesses threaten the nation's health and its finances.

Digital technologies transforming our world - from transport to relationships, from entertainment to finance - and there is consensus that digital solutions will have a huge role to play in health and care. Through the CDT's emphasis on multidisciplinarity, teamwork, design and responsible innovation, it will produce future leaders positioned to seize that opportunity.

Impact on the Economy
The UK has Europe's 2nd largest medical technology industry and a hugely strong track record in health, technology and societal research. It is very well-placed to develop digital health and care solutions that meet the needs of society through the creation of new businesses.

Achieving economic impact is more than a matter of technology. The CDT has therefore been designed to ensure that its graduates are team players with deep understanding of health and social care systems, good design and the social context within which a new technology is introduced.

Many multinationals have been keen to engage the CDT (e.g. Microsoft, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Biogen, Arm, Huawei ) and part of the Director's role will be to position the UK as a destination for inwards investment in Digital Health. CDT partners collectively employ nearly 1,000,000 people worldwide and are easily in a position to create thousands of jobs in the UK.

The connection to CDT research will strongly benefit UK enterprises such as System C and Babylon, along with smaller companies such as Ayuda Heuristics and Evolyst.

Impact on the Public
When new technologies are proposed to collect and analyse highly personal health data, and are potentially involved in life or death decisions, it is vital that the public are given a voice. The team's experience is that listening to the public makes research better, however involving a full spectrum of the community in research also has benefits to those communities; it can be empowering, it can support the personal development of individuals within communities who may have little awareness of higher education and it can catalyse community groups to come together around key health and care issues.

Policy Makers
From the team's conversations with the senior leadership of the NHS, local leaders of health and social care transformation (see letters from NHS and Bristol City Council) and national reports, it is very apparent that digital solutions are seen as vital to the delivery of health and care. The research of the CDT can inform policy makers about the likely impact of new technology on future services.

Partner organisation Care & Repair will disseminate research findings around independent living and have a track record of translating academic research into changes in practice and policy.

Carers UK represent the role of informal carers, such as family members, in health and social care. They have a strong voice in policy development in the UK and are well-placed to disseminate the CDTs research to policy makers.

STEM Education
It has been shown that outreach for school age children around STEM topics can improve engagement in STEM topics at school. However female entry into STEM at University level remains dramatically lower than males; the reverse being true for health and life sciences. The CDT outreach leverages this fact to focus STEM outreach activities on digital health and care, which can encourage young women into computer science and impact on the next generation of women in higher education.

For academic impact see "Academic Beneficiaries" section.