On 23.12.2021, SWR reported in Aktuell Baden-Württemberg about the EmoCare project of the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg. The two-minute report shows nursing robot “Misa” during an initial test deployment at Sankt Carolushaus in Freiburg. Are nursing robots a remedy for staff shortages? To answer this question, an SWR team looked at the EmoCare project …
Social Robots
Keynote on Social Robots at Ben-Gurion University in Israel
On November 24, ACI-director Oliver Korn gave the Keynote of the ABC-Robotics Workshop at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. The keynote titled “Cultural Differences in Social Robot Acceptance. A Case Study and a Concept for Future Field Research” discussed recent findings on cultural differences affecting the acceptance and design preferences of social …
EmoCare meets Flitzmo robot
The EmoCare research project supports nurses with the help of voice, gesture and facial expression analysis of residents in retirement homes. At the end of September, the EmoCare team exchanged ideas with the operators of the Flitzmo robot. The EmoCare research project of the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences together with the software developer Dr. …
Podcast – What is the Future of Social Robots?
ACI Director Oliver Korn talks to Marc Verbenkov in the Automated Podcast about the future of social robots. In 45 minutes, the two talk entertainingly about social robots in healthcare, their economic potential and ethical challenges. Just listen in and learn a lot about social robots: Where are social robots already used today and why …
Social Robots – A Science Comic Envisions the Future
The ACI’s first science comic has been published. Within a thrilling crime story it provides articulate information on the potentials and limitations of social robots in the future. The 72-page comic in DIN A4 format is published in print in February and can be read online here. A valuable Care Robot Disappears The story takes …
Welcome to the Team, Pepper!
After already welcoming QTrobot in our team last March, Pepper joins us as a new team member. He too will assist us in further researching the topic of social robots and will eventually become the foundation of future studies. Pepper is a social-humanoid robot from SoftBank Robotics. His specialty is the interaction with humans. This …
New Book on Social Robots
Social robots not only work with humans in collaborative workspaces – we meet them in shopping malls and even more personal settings like health and care. Does this imply they should become more human, able to interpret and adequately respond to human emotions? Do we want them to help elderly persons? Do we want them …
Social Robots – Assistance for the Elderly?
In collaboration with Francesca Fracasso, a researcher of the “Planning and Scheduling Technology Laboratory” (PST Lab, headed by Amedeo Cesta), at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC) of the National Research Council of Italy, we are conducting a cross-cultural investigation on people’s believes and opinions on social robots. Social robots differ from other …
Interview on AI
In December, ACI-director Oliver Korn gave an interview on artificial intelligence and social robots. In the talk with Anja Nolte, they cover not only technological, but also societal and ethical aspects. The interviews as well as a concluding article have been published in January with the Volksbank Freiburg: Part 1 [German] Part 2 [German] Concluding …
Impressions of the Open Day
Our first Open Day of 2018 was a great success. We are still a bit overwhelmed by the large number of visitors. Students, colleagues from Offenburg University and also some curious members of the public took the chance to inform themselves about our work and research projects. The ACI robot on tour Our robot “Sanbot” …