Lab Website: https://robocare.wpi.edu/
About the Demo:
1) Technology to be demonstrated:
We will demonstrate a Pepper humanoid social robot that delivers brief, low-intensity “micro-exercise” interventions after a period of sedentary time (e.g., ~60 minutes of continuous sitting). The robot cues the user from a nearby position and provides structured, chair-based exercise prompts using multimodal coaching (spoken instructions, supportive dialogue, gestures, and simple gamified encouragement).
2) How attendees can interact with it:
Attendees can try a short (2–5 minute) chair-based routine while Pepper provides adaptive guidance and encouragement.
3) Relevance to frailty measurement:
This technology relates to frailty measurement by enabling longitudinal, real-world functional signals tied to physical function and resilience. Potential measurable indicators include:
Sedentary duration patterns (how long and how often prolonged sitting occurs)
Response latency (time from prompt to initiation) and adherence (accept/decline/completion rate over time)
Task performance proxies (ability to complete standardized chair-based movements; perceived exertion/fatigue trends)
movement-quality features (e.g., range of motion, repetitions, stability proxies) from sensing
Together, these interaction and performance measures can complement clinical frailty assessments by providing continuous, time-appropriate indicators of functional change and responsiveness to intervention, while also serving as a practical, engaging approach to support physical activity and resilience.