IDP: Dance Session IDP

Backchanneling

Problem Summary

Maintaining the attention (arousal and valence) of the PwD can become difficult due to repetitive speech patterns of the Social Robot and repetitive nature of the Dancing Session.

Grounding in Use-Case (ID)

As mentioned in A child and a robot getting acquainted-interaction design for eliciting self-disclosure, positive backchanneling is an IDP that proves to be effective for self-disclosure, and has a high response rate, when interacting with children.

Usage

The IDP should be used during discussions, such as selecting a song and after the PwD expresses opinions. It should be avoided during steps that impose restrictions, such as when the robot stops the activity.

Solution

By always responding with an acknowledgment, Miro shows the PwD that it listens. When possible, Miro responds to song or genre selection with positive phrases such as "Great choice!". 

Rationale

Conversational responsiveness (Berg, 1987) proves that Miro both acknowledges and supports the PwD's decisions and interests.

Berg, J. H. (1987). “Responsiveness and self-disclosure,” in Self-Disclosure: Theory, research, and therapy. Editors V. J. Derlega, and J. H. Berg (Boston, MA: Springer US), 101–130. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-3523-6_6

Ligthart, M., Van Bindsbergen, K. L., Fernhout, T., Grootenhuis, M. A., Neerincx, M. A., & Hindriks, K. V. (2019, May). A child and a robot getting acquainted-interaction design for eliciting self-disclosure. In 18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS 2019 (pp. 61-70). International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS).