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Due to increasing demand for social care and the relative workforce shortage, it is likely that a greater number and variety of robots will be introduced and implemented in the future. While the benefits of applying robots and assistive technologies are recognized, the current limitations and weaknesses have also been identified. One of these is the difficulty associated with a user-centered design, involving older adults with impaired cognitive and sensory abilities in nursing homes. In order to overcome this challenge, a project was carried out to develop a soft and compact bedside communication robot with an input\/output device, connected to existing technologies (e.g. monitoring camera, biological sensor). Drawing on the principle of <jats:italic>gemba<\/jats:italic> (deference to frontline professionals\u2019 experience, expertise and skills), users\u2019 feedback was reflected in the iterative steps of robot development. The original soft and communicative robot was introduced and its effectiveness was tested by measuring older people\u2019s reactions and changes in their behaviors and engagement levels. The article reports the development process and results of a small-scale evaluation study, comparing the impact of this original soft-type robot with and without its communicative functions. The human\u2013robot interactions were captured on video, and the analysis revealed that while communicative robots reduced the psychosocial burden on older adults, positive emotional, verbal, visual and behavioral engagement was generated with the help of the non-verbal plush toy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-021-00815-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,7]],"date-time":"2021-08-07T17:02:52Z","timestamp":1628355772000},"page":"645-656","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Assessing the Impact of an Original Soft Communicative Robot in a Nursing Home in Japan: Will Softness or Conversations Bring more Smiles to Older People?"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5069-5347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kazuko","family":"Obayashi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6480-7327","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Naonori","family":"Kodate","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9922-6258","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shigeru","family":"Masuyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"815_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-444-63916-5.00019-7","volume":"159","author":"ME Taylor","year":"2018","unstructured":"Taylor ME, Close JCT (2018) Dementia. 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