Assessing Usability of a Robotic-Based AAL System: A Pilot Study with Dementia Patients

Ambient Assisted Living is playing a crucial role in supporting dementia patients to live in their preferred environ- ment, so limiting the involvement of careers and/or relatives. In order for such systems to become a reality, patients need to feel comfortable when interacting with them, and so an agent-based modular approach is adopted to make it possible to personalize the provision of digital services for each specific patient's needs. Here, we experiment with a robotic based ambient assisted environment to analyze the perceived usability when real patients interact with it in a controlled research laboratory where the system is deployed, by taking into account both their personality traits and cognitive status. The perceived usability is evaluated through a survey with a set of patients filling a questionnaire specifically designed for the experimentation that is based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use Technology (UTAUT). The preliminary obtained results show that the perceived usability of the system is related to some traits of patients' personality, while their cognitive status impacts the provided assistive services.