Drawing of the "PWR 3000", which is supposed to stimulate communication. As a moving robot platform, it moves through the nursing home and waters plants. The system explores the question of how robots can handle everyday routines, can loosen up care operations or activate those who are cared for.
Diagnosis: Boredom and dying house plants
And so the researchers ventured an unusual step into the real world: They spent time in a nursing home. Four of the project members took part in the everyday life of the Sophienhaus der Diakonie – a care facility for the elderly in Weimar. One of the researchers even worked there for nine weeks as an intern, in order to gain a comprehensive insight into everyday life and to better understand the challenges of everyday nursing care. All four kept detailed diaries and noted down their observations and impressions. Through systematic analysis of their experiences, they were able to work out a range of topics.
One of these is both commonplace and understandable: Boredom. "There is a lack of variety in the lives of the elderly – nothing happens worth talking about," says Andreas Bischof. The term "reciprocity" comes from sociology – Bischof's area of expertise. It is well known that for successful social interaction, there must be reciprocity, i.e. a sharing or mutuality. This is no different in the case of human-machine interaction.
A robot that does not stand alone
This resulted in a new thought experiment: "Why can't robotic assistance be based on humans aiding the robots – and not the other way round?" asks Bischof. This way of thinking, for example, resulted in the creation of Sanne. Sanne resembles a cat, which motivates the residents to pet it – and to disinfect their hands in the process. However, Sanne also needs help because it sometimes gets stuck under the table, for instance. And so a situation is created that requires action from the person present and brings in a topic that most people like talking about: Things that do not function reliably.
Another idea is the PWR - a plant watering robot, whose development is supervised by the technology sociologist Philipp Graf. It steers through the rooms independently and has an important task: Watering the plants. However, this robot is occasionally dependent on the help of others too; for example, when it comes to opening doors or clearing obstacles out of the way. "The inspiration for the PWR came from observing how much a caregiver’s dog brought variety into the everyday life of the home residents," Hornecker reports. The idea behind the PWR is not so much to be useful than to create variety: It is fascinating to watch it moving around to water the plants – and it interrupts the dull routine in the nursing home.
"And more often than not, homes for the elderly are not quite like home. There are no indoor plants, for example, because they often die from neglect. The already overburdened nursing staff has no time to take care of plants as well," Bischof adds. The PWR helps to solve this problem – not an independent stand-alone solution, but entertaining.