On 21 January, GAIPS will host a talk, during their weekly meeting, by Emilia Barakova from Eindhoven University of Technology. The session titled “Stress and pain regulation in mental healthcare and special education through connected systems of Social Robots and Wearables” will discuss social robots as tools to enhance care support for diverse user populations, particularly to aid their expression of pain and stress.

Date & Time: 21 January, 11h00
Where: Room 1.44, Técnico Campus Oeiras

Summary: Addressing pain and stress as interconnected factors is crucial in providing comprehensive care and improving the well-being of different users. Individuals with intellectual disabilities, older adults with dementia, and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face challenges in accurately expressing their discomfort, pain, and worries. To address these issues, our research leveraged interaction design methods that combine robots, wearables, games and mobile apps to transform social robots into effective tools for promoting positive affect and distraction from pain and loneliness during assistive tasks. In our robot-assisted therapies, we integrated contextual aspects such as a hospital or care home settings, individual patient/client journeys, and personal needs, along with the active involvement of caregivers and parents. Through this multidimensional approach, we aim to enhance the overall efficacy and impact of assistive robots, providing tailored support to diverse user populations and facilitating their well-being and quality of life.

Bio: Emilia Barakova is an Associate Professor in Social Robots and Embodied Intelligent Agents. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics and Natural Sciences from the University of Groningen in 1999, and her master’s degree in Electronics and Automation engineering from the Technical University of Sofia in Bulgaria. She is presently affiliated with the Industrial Design department and serves as the Head of the Social Robotics Lab at the Eindhoven University of Technology and leads the Transdisciplinary Research & Design research cluster. She formerly worked at Riken Brain Science Institute, Wako-shi, Japan, the German-Japanese Robotics Research Lab, Kitakyushu, Japan, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Barakova specializes in embodied social interaction with and through technology and social and cognitive robotics. Her present research focuses on the use of social robots for enhancing the mental well-being of people with intellectual disabilities, dementia, visual impairments and education and special education (i.e. children with autism spectrum disorders). Barakova has served as the program and general chair for several conferences (including IJSR, IEEE RO-MAN, and IEEE Hybrid Intelligent Systems), and she is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Social Robotics, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Interaction Studies, and Transactions of Human-Machine Systems.