Robots to motivate elderly people: Present and future challenges

In this paper we argue for the development of new methodological approaches to create and evaluate robots for elderly-care, which offer support for the psychological determinants of the quality of life of elderly people. Relevant determinants, such as mood, self-efficacy and happiness are discussed in this paper in relation to older people. We offer an overview of previous work on robots offering psychological support and analyse the various methodological challenges in studying the effects of motivational and psycho-therapeutic robots on elderly people´s psychological well-being.