User focused design of human-robot interaction for people suffering from unusual ailments

This paper presents the results of two years of empirical research with regard to the design of interfaces in human-robot interaction for elderly and disabled persons. Focus is on establishing telemedical services and service robots for homely aftercare and rehabilitation. Within several user studies and clinical trials the aspects of information input with the help of swabbing movements for people suffering from hand tremor and design recommendations for tactile stimuli in the use of touch screens were investigated. Additionally the comparison of different icon categories for archetypical telemedical scenarios and the implementation of intuitive acoustic feedback mechanisms were accomplished in empirical user studies, considering the requirements of the prospective user.