“Robot Friends” and VR for
Loneliness During the Pandemic
The isolation
that individuals have endured due to the COVID-19 pandemic includes feelings of
loneliness and depression. And in order to help those experiencing these types
of feelings, technologists, researchers, and healthcare workers are tapping
into the benefits of using “robot friends” and VR for loneliness.
Depression
increased after the outbreak of the virus and sharp mental health shifts
occurred as COVID-19 cases began to rise around the globe. A study by GOQii,
a smart-tech-enabled preventive healthcare platform,
surveyed over 10,000 Indians, to understand how they have been coping with the
new normal. It revealed that stress levels have been on a rapid rise in India, with
43% of Indians suffering from depression – 26% of respondents were suffering
from mild depression, 11% were feeling moderately depressed, whereas 6% of the
respondents were facing severe symptoms of depression.
IEEE
member Jonathan Gratch says that physical touch and the way people give social
cues in-person versus through a video call is biologically beneficial for our
brains. Without those forms of social interaction happening regularly, our
loneliness meter increases.
“Video
conferencing can be cognitively demanding, as it might supercharge some of the
social stressors found in real-world interactions,” says Gratch. “The fact that
you see yourself makes you more aware of your appearance and reactions and
increases your ‘impression management’. This is a known stressor.”
Another
difficulty with video conferencing is our perception of screen boundaries. “For
analog face-to-face, physically co-located interactions, our senses are not
bounded by a screen border or controlled and mediated by a single camera angle
or microphone placement,” says IEEE member Todd Richmond. “When we are in
person, we are immersed in a space and that sense of immersion is something
humans have learned and evolved to expect.”
Since we
weren’t able to obtain the social interactions our bodies and brains were
expecting or desiring during the COVID-19 crisis because of public safety concerns,
robotics, and virtual reality (VR) stepped in to fill the loneliness gaps.
ROBOT
FRIENDS USE AI TO KEEP US SOCIALLY UPDATED
Social
robots, or robotic friends, have provided an alternative for social interaction
when human connection is limited.
Robots are
being used in a variety of ways, as reported by IEEE Spectrum –– from Fribo, a
robot that informs your friends and family members what you’re doing in your
house, so they know you’re actively moving, to these robots that are meant to
be broken and yelled at in order to get out your negative emotions –– are
ultimately helping you feel less alone.
Artificial
intelligence (AI) and machine learning are often used in these health-managing
robots to improve their interactions with you.
AI
VOICE ASSISTANTS FOR OLDER ADULTS
A recent
article mentioned a study that used AI voice assistants that were “programmed
to report sensor-based health information using visual and voice interfaces”
for older adults living at home.
“Aging in
your home is no longer a luxury for those most at-risk of transmitted viruses,”
says IEEE Senior Member Marjorie Skubic, a professor of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science at the University of Missouri where the study was
conducted. “Artificial intelligence is key to addressing this challenge by
giving older adults better tools for managing their own health,” the article
stated.
“To
develop more innovative solutions that help keep people safe and make the world
a better place, the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society recommends that all
organizations actively combating COVID-19 leverage AI, one of the most powerful
tools at our disposal,” states the article.
VR
FOR LONELINESS HELPS OUR BRAINS FEEL CONNECTED
Virtual
Reality is another technology being used to help people currently going through
isolation.
“Compared
to video conferencing, VR tech is known to increase both physical and social
presence,” says Gratch. “You feel like you are really at a place or really with
a person. In terms of social interaction, it can help deal with some of the
breakdowns in social cues.”
“VR brings
a higher degree of immersion than a typical screen-based interaction,” adds
Richmond. “Sharing a virtual space with someone in an immersive VR experience
could very well lead to a better sense of “being there”. The shared space is
key, and one problem with current video solutions.”
If VR is
more beneficial than video conferencing, why aren’t we taking all of our work
meetings and conducting all of our family gatherings in this way while we stay
home? Richmond explains that this limitation is mostly because the devices are
not as accessible as a computer or tablet.
“Most
everyone has a screen (be it phone or computer), but very few have AR/VR,” says
Richmond. “Once AR/VR gets more ubiquitous, more people will be able to
experiment with the experiences, which will help advance the technology
development and create new sets of social norms that will be necessary.”
Both
Richmond and Gratch feel optimistic about the advancements happening in the
virtual reality space. The pandemic has forced us all to adapt and make this
type of technology a higher priority than ever before.
OTHER
TECHNOLOGIES BEING USED FOR LONELINESS
Wearables,
sensors and IoT are other methods being explored during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall,
our desire for contact has moved technology forward to offer more effective
solutions than ever before. While nothing can beat a hug from another person,
robots and VR are making that absence feel a little less large.
“The
pandemic has shown us that humans value contact, and that contact needs to move
beyond the traditional screen boundary,” says Richmond.
