"The activities performed in the project are the following.
- Definition of several scenarios and guidelines for different cultural groups (English, Indian, Japanese), which describe the activities to be performed by culturally competent robots when interacting with older persons during daily routines.
- Development of the architecture of the system (based on the universAAL framework for Ambient Assisted Living) and its main software components: (i) the Cultural Knowledge Base (CKB) for cultural knowledge representation and acquisition through verbal interaction and observations; (ii) the Culturally-Sensitive Planning and Execution Module (CSPEM), able to plan customized sequence of actions depending on the cultural profile of the user; (iii) the Culture-Aware Human Robot Interaction Module (CAHRIM), including all actions required by the robot to execute and monitor the assigned plan.
- Development of two solutions to allow the robot to interact with smart sensors and actuators, based on: (i) the adaptation of universAAL to support the ECHONET-lite standard for home automation, tested in the iHouse smart apartment in Japan; (ii) the development of an Android application for interacting with IoTs devices through the Pepper’s tablet.
- Development of a Cloud-based version of the CARESSES software, able to provide services for Culturally Competent interaction to virtually any devices, tested in two case studies: (i) a Smartphone application; (ii) Pillo, the robotic dispenser developed by Pillo Health.
- Preparation of a detailed study protocol and a test conduction handbook to describe the methodology and procedures of the testing and evaluation phases of the study, including key ethical considerations.
- Conduction of the main trial in UK and Japan, which included submitting the experimental protocol for Ethics approval, as well as implementing all the required procedures for screening, recruitment and testing, and for conduction of pre- and post-testing structured quantitative interviews with residents. Data analysis has been performed, paralleled by an assessment of study feasibility and a cost-effectiveness analysis using the EU MAFEIP tool.
- Preparation of a schedule for Open Source release of the CARESSES software. Publication of Open Data according to the CARESSES Data Management Plan.
- Development of an exploitation plan for CARESSES outcomes, including the creation of a university spin-off company.
Dissemination and Communication have focused on following activities.
- Publication of scientific articles in top-ranked journals and conferences proceedings, participation to scientific events as invited speakers, organization of Special Sessions and Workshops about cultural factors in Robotics.
- Participation in public events to showcase the project's outcomes.
- Creation of the CARESSES website and social media channels on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
- Production of videos for scientific purposes and for the general public, including (i) the ""CARESSES concept"" animated video and (ii) the ""CARESSES experiments"" video prepared using footage recorded during the trial.
- A very intense presence on the media through interviews and articles on major journals, TV and Radio Channels.
CARESSES has been nominated Project of the Month by the EU (2018), it has been recognized in the UK’s best breakthrough list by the MadeAtUni campaign (2018), it has been awarded a SMAU Innovation Award (2019), and its is mentioned among the “100 ITALIAN ROBOTIC & AUTOMATION STORIES” in the Enel report (2020). CARESSES innovations have been acknowledged by the EC innovation radar."
