About this Research Topic
Medical and technological advances have enormously contributed to increasing life expectancy in the last decades. At the same time, during the last year, the emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic obliged people to spend more time at home, often in social isolation and with limited access to routine health care. These evident transitions highlight the need to define a new paradigm in the future, where technology is used at home to improve the quality of life of people.
Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technological solutions aim to improve health, psycho-physical well-being, and independent living of people. Among such technologies, robots are now starting to play an important role and will probably play a fundamental role in the future.
This Research Topic aims to gather ideas, solutions and future perspectives on the use of robots in assisted living environments, both from the academic and professional world, to address the challenge of improving the quality of life of people at home. Beyond its survey aspects, this Research Topic also aims to collect relevant theoretical findings as well as challenging applications in various fields of robotics, with special attention to Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Indeed, HRI is a key aspect for robots that operate close to or directly interact with people, such as in social robots, assistive robots or robot companions.
As a final goal, the Research Topic wants to provide an insight on the potential benefits of using robots in assisted living environments, together with the current risks and difficulties which are still limiting the diffusion of robots as a consumer technology.
This Research Topic is open to Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Methods, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspectives, Data Reports, Brief Research Reports, and Technology and code related to robotic technologies in assisted living environments. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
• assistive robots
• social robots
• service robots
• robot companions
• mobility assistance robots
• consumer robotics
• robotic pets
• human-robot interaction for assistive living
• user interfaces for robot operations
• Ambient Assisted Living technologies
Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technological solutions aim to improve health, psycho-physical well-being, and independent living of people. Among such technologies, robots are now starting to play an important role and will probably play a fundamental role in the future.
This Research Topic aims to gather ideas, solutions and future perspectives on the use of robots in assisted living environments, both from the academic and professional world, to address the challenge of improving the quality of life of people at home. Beyond its survey aspects, this Research Topic also aims to collect relevant theoretical findings as well as challenging applications in various fields of robotics, with special attention to Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Indeed, HRI is a key aspect for robots that operate close to or directly interact with people, such as in social robots, assistive robots or robot companions.
As a final goal, the Research Topic wants to provide an insight on the potential benefits of using robots in assisted living environments, together with the current risks and difficulties which are still limiting the diffusion of robots as a consumer technology.
This Research Topic is open to Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Methods, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspectives, Data Reports, Brief Research Reports, and Technology and code related to robotic technologies in assisted living environments. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
• assistive robots
• social robots
• service robots
• robot companions
• mobility assistance robots
• consumer robotics
• robotic pets
• human-robot interaction for assistive living
• user interfaces for robot operations
• Ambient Assisted Living technologies
Keywords: social robots, robot companions, assistive robots, human-robot interaction
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
