XWiki - Objectives - Objectives

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Walking is an essential activity for humans. It is a lightweight physical activity, that improves circulation, strengthens your muscles and helps you lose weight. Next to this, it allows for social interaction and it helps to boost energy levels by releasing certain hormones like endorphins and delivering oxygen throughout the body([[source>>https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/walking/#:~:text=Walking%20is%20a%20type%20of,delivering%20oxygen%20throughout%20the%20body.]]).

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Unfortunately, people with dementia may lose their ability to take walks on their own. They might forget where they are and not be able to get back, and maybe even get injured along the way. In care homes, they can ask a caretaker to assist them in walking around to avoid these problems and to still get their daily physical activity. However, care homes typically do not have enough resources to cater to the need of every patient all the time, as these caretakers often take care of a lot of people. This dependence on the caretaker to take a walk can invoke negative emotions for people with dementia. They may feel like they are a burden because that take they take too much time from their caretaker. They are reliant on their caretaker to do a basic human activity; they have lost their autonomy in choosing when to walk. And we want to help them with that.

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We want to achieve this by creating a robot walking companion, called WAF, who will guide them along their path. With the MiRo robot, a robot resembling a dog, clients should be able to take walks without the help of caretakers. Clients should be able to decide on a destination for which WAF acts as a guide; WAF shows the way, makes sure the client stays on it and finds help if anything goes wrong. WAF helps clients return to their old walking habits, allowing them to take a casual stroll through the building, have a chat with someone along the way and then continue their path. Next to this, the client needs to be able to trust WAF and build up a companionship with WAF. For this, WAF should be able to listen and respond to the voice of their client and allow for several voice commands. Additionally, clients should be able to build up companionship by some form of cuddling, which could be seen as Snoezelen.

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__The product vision for this project is therefore defined as follows:__

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//WAF gives people with dementia the autonomy and capability to walk around on their own accord, with only the help of their trusted robot companion.//

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