IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2013 - 83

Influence of Gender and Experience
with Computers
We conducted a nonparametric Mann-Whitney test on the
intent to use and perceived enjoyment constructs to investigate whether gender influenced these constructs for the
humanlike robot Brian 2.1. For both constructs, we found
that there was no statistically significant difference between
the two genders. Spearman's t was used to determine
whether a correlation exists between computer experience
and the perceived ease of use of Brian 2.1 with our study
participants. We identified a t of 0.237, which showed no
significant correlation between these two factors for our
participants for an a   = 0.05. Namely, we found that both
the male and female participants, regardless of their computer experience, found the robot easy to use.
Conclusions
This article focuses on providing a needed assistant for cognitive/social interventions for elderly individuals via the
development of the expressive, humanlike robot, Brian 2.1.
We designed Brian 2.1 to provide assistance for two interventions: a meal-eating activity and a leisure memory card
game. The robot used various sensor modalities to identify
activity and user states to determine its assistive behaviors.
We conducted a preliminary study with Brian 2.1 at a longterm care facility to observe potential user interactions with
the robot. We found that the large majority of the elderly
participants were both engaged in the interaction and complied with the robot's prompts during interaction. The useracceptance questionnaire showed that Brian 2.1 scored high
on questions related to the participants' attitudes toward
using the robot, their perceived enjoyment during the
interactions, and the robot's perceived sociability. The
robot's display of emotions was highly liked by the participants. We also found no significant difference between
males and females in their intent to use the robot and perceived enjoyment. Regardless of the level of computer experience, the participants found the robot easy to use. In
general, the results of the HRI study presented show promise for the use of a humanlike robot for cognitive interventions and motivate further development and long-term
testing of the robot.
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Derek McColl, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada. E-mail: derek.
mccoll@mail.utoronto.ca.
Wing-Yue Geoffrey Louie, Department of Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada.
E-mail: geoffrey.louie@mail.utoronto.ca.
Goldie Nejat, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada. E-mail: nejat@mie.
utoronto.ca.

March 2013

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