{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T15:16:22Z","timestamp":1773933382416,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,8]],"date-time":"2017-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1499472000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Future Internet"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The impact of the world-wide ageing population has commenced with respect to society in developed countries. Several researchers focused on exploring new methods to improve the quality of life of elderly individuals by allowing them to remain independent and healthy to the maximum possible extent. For example, new walking aids are designed to allow elderly individuals to remain mobile in a safe manner because the importance of walking is well-known. The aim of the present study involves designing a humanoid robot guide as a walking trainer for elderly individuals. It is hypothesized that the same service robot provides an assistive and social contribution with respect to interaction between elderly users by motivating them to walk more and simultaneously provides assistance, such as physical assistance and gait monitoring, while walking. This study includes a detailed statement of the research problem as well as a literature review of existing studies related to walking companion robots. A user-centred design approach is adopted to report the results of the current first feasibility study by using a commercially available humanoid robot known as Pepper developed by Softbank-Aldebaran. A quantitative questionnaire was used to investigate all elements that assess intrinsic motivation in users while performing a given activity. Conversely, basic gait data were acquired through a video analysis to test the capability of the robot to modify the gait of human users. The results in terms of the feedback received from elderly subjects and the literature review improve the design of the walking trainer for elderly individuals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/fi9030030","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,10]],"date-time":"2017-07-10T11:05:31Z","timestamp":1499684731000},"page":"30","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":38,"title":["Feasibility Study of a Socially Assistive Humanoid Robot for Guiding Elderly Individuals during Walking"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Chiara","family":"Piezzo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tsukuba, 305-8571 Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1736-5404","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kenji","family":"Suzuki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tsukuba, 305-8571 Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2","article-title":"World population highlights: Key findings from PRB\u2019s 2010 world population data sheet","volume":"65","author":"Bremner","year":"2010","journal-title":"Popul. Bull."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). World Population Ageing Report 2015\u2014The United Nations. Available online: http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/development\/desa\/population\/publications\/pdf\/ageing\/WPA2015_Report.pdf."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"876","DOI":"10.4065\/mcp.2011.0252","article-title":"Physical Exercise as a Preventive or Disease-Modifying Treatment of Dementia and Brain Aging","volume":"86","author":"Ahlskog","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mayo Clin. Proc."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1186\/s13063-016-1288-2","article-title":"Dementia and Physical Activity (DAPA)\u2014An exercise intervention to improve cognition in people with mild to moderate dementia: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial","volume":"17","author":"Atherton","year":"2016","journal-title":"Trials"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1295","DOI":"10.2337\/diacare.28.6.1295","article-title":"Make your diabetic patients walk: Long-term impact of different amounts of physical activity on type 2 diabetes","volume":"28","author":"Fanelli","year":"2005","journal-title":"Diabetes Care"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1007\/s10846-015-0259-2","article-title":"A Survey of Autonomous Human Affect Detection Methods for Social Robots Engaged in Natural HRI","volume":"82","author":"McColl","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Intell. Robot. Syst."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). PARO Therapeutic Robot. Available online: http:\/\/www.parorobots.com\/."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme. Available online: http:\/\/www.aal-europe.eu\/about\/objectives\/."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"393","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-016-0351-1","article-title":"A Cloud Robotics Solution to Improve Social Assistive Robots for Active and Healthy Aging","volume":"8","author":"Bonaccorsi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Robosoft Kompai. Available online: http:\/\/www.robosoft.com\/."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Accompany\u2014Acceptable robotiCs COMPanions for AgeiNg Years. Available online: http:\/\/rehabilitationrobotics.net\/cms2\/."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Companionable Project. Available online: http:\/\/www.companionable.net\/."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Giraff Technologies AB. Available online: http:\/\/www.giraff.org\/."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-010-0068-5","article-title":"Assessing Acceptance of Assistive Social Agent Technology by Older Adults: The Almere Model","volume":"2","author":"Heerink","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1007\/s10846-013-0019-0","article-title":"Evaluation of Small Socially-Assistive Humanoid Robot in Intelligent Homes for the Care of the Elderly","volume":"76","author":"Torta","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Intell. Robot. Syst."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-010-0082-7","article-title":"The Benefits of Interactions with Physically Present Robots over Video-Displayed Agents","volume":"3","author":"Bainbridge","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-014-0257-8","article-title":"User-centered Design and Evaluation of a Mobile Shopping Robot","volume":"7","author":"Doering","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1006\/ceps.1999.1020","article-title":"Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions","volume":"25","author":"Ryan","year":"2000","journal-title":"Contemp. Educ. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmr.2004.03.012","article-title":"Motivating Elders to Initiate and Maintain Exercise","volume":"85","author":"Phillips","year":"2004","journal-title":"Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fogg, B.J. (2003). Persuasive technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do, Morgan Kaufmann. [1st ed.].","DOI":"10.1145\/764008.763957"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schneider, S., Sussenbach, L., Berger, I., and Kummert, F. (2015, January 21\u201324). Long-term Feedback Mechanisms for Robotic Assisted Indoor Cycling Training. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, Daegu, Kyungpook, Korea.","DOI":"10.1145\/2814940.2814962"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fasola, J., and Mataric, M.J. (2010, January 13\u201315). Robot Exercise Instructor: A Socially Assistive Robot System to Monitor and Encourage Physical Exercise for the Elderly. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Viareggio, Italy.","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2010.5598658"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pandey, A.K., and Alami, R. (2009, January 22\u201325). Towards a Sociable Robot Guide which Respects and Supports the Human Activity. Proceeding of the International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, Bangalore, India.","DOI":"10.1109\/COASE.2009.5234148"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1007\/s10846-014-0098-6","article-title":"Switched Control to Robot-Human Bilateral Interaction for Guiding People","volume":"77","author":"Leica","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Intell. Robot. Syst."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Hall, E.T. (1990). The Hidden Dimension, Anchor. [27th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kosinski, T., Obaid, M., Wozniak, P.W., Fjeld, M., and Kucharski, J. (2016, January 26\u201331). A Fuzzy Data-based Model for Human-Robot Proxemics. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, New York, NY, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2016.7745152"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Obaid, M., Sandoval, E.B., Zlotowski, J., Moltchanova, E., Basedow, E.M., and Bartneck, C. (2016, January 26\u201331). Stop! That is Close Enough. How Body Postures Influence Human-Robot Proximity. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, New York, NY, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2016.7745155"},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"56","article-title":"Key Technologies in Robot Assistants: Motion Coordination between a Human and a Mobile Robot","volume":"4","author":"Prassler","year":"2002","journal-title":"Trans. Control Autom. Syst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"204","article-title":"Position Control of Mobile Robot for Human-Following in Intelligent Space with Distributed Sensors","volume":"4","author":"Jin","year":"2006","journal-title":"Int. J. Control Autom. Syst."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gockley, R., Forlizzi, J., and Simmons, R. (2007, January 9\u201311). Natural Person-Following Behaviour for Social Robots. Proceedings of the ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Arlington, VA, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/1228716.1228720"},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Hoeller, F., Schulz, D., Moors, M., and Schneider, F.E. (November, January 29). Accompanying Persons with a Mobile Robot using Motion Prediction and Probabilistic Roadmaps. Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, CA, USA."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Morales, Y., Satake, S., Huq, R., Kanda, T., and Hagita, N. (2012, January 5\u20138). How Do People Walk Side-By-Side?\u2014Using A Computational Model of Human Behaviour For A Social Robot. Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot interaction, Boston, MA, USA."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kobayashi, Y., Kinpara, Y., Takano, E., Kuno, Y., Yamazaki, K., and Yamazaki, A. (2011, January 7\u201312). Robotic Wheelchair Moving with Caregiver Collaboratively Depending on Circumstances. Proceedings of the International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vancouver, BC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1145\/1979742.1979894"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ferrer, G., Garrell, A., and Sanfeliu, A. (2013, January 3\u20137). Robot Companion: A Social-Force based approach with Human Awareness-Navigation in Crowded Environments. Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, Japan.","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS.2013.6696576"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.5898\/JHRI.3.2.Morales","article-title":"Walking Together: Side-by-Side Walking Model for an Interacting Robot","volume":"3","author":"Morales","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Hum. Robot Interact."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Oishi, S., Kohari, Y., and Miura, J. (2016, January 26\u201331). Toward a Robotic Attendant Adaptively Behaving According to Human State. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, New York, NY, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2016.7745236"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1109\/TNSRE.2006.881534","article-title":"Robotic Personal Aids for Mobility and Monitoring for the Elderly","volume":"14","author":"Spenko","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-013-0215-x","article-title":"An Investigation of Responses to Robot-Initiated Touch in a Nursing Context","volume":"6","author":"Chen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Yamamoto, N., Fukamachi, K., Takeda, Y., De Silva, P.R.S., and Okada, M. (2013, January 7\u20139). Mako-no-Te: To Explore Side-to-Side Communication through the Intersubjectectivity. Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, Sapporo, Japan."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dabrowski, J., Kondaxakis, P., and Kyrki, V. (2014, January 25\u201329). Holding Hands? Guiding Humanoid Walking Using Sensorless Force Control. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2014.6926250"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kochigami, K., Jiang, J., Kakehashi, Y., Au, C., Kakiuchi, Y., Okada, K., and Inaba, M. (2015, January 11\u201313). Walking Together Hand in Hand: Design and Evaluation of Autonomous Robot System that a Robot Recognizes Moving Direction with a Child\u2019s Assistance of Pulling its Hand. Proceedings of the International Symposium on System Integration, Nagoya, Japan.","DOI":"10.1109\/SII.2015.7405071"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1007\/s11370-016-0207-4","article-title":"Control of Bidirectional Physical Human? Robot Interaction based on the Human Intention","volume":"10","author":"Leica","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Intell. Serv. Robot."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"Capezuti, L., Malone, M.L., Katz, P.R., and Mezey, M. (2013). The Encyclopedia of Elder Care: The Comprehensive Resource on Geriatric Health and Social Care, Springer Publishing Company. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/S0966-6362(02)00197-2","article-title":"The Effect of Gait Speed on Lateral Balance Control During Walking in Healthy Elderly","volume":"18","author":"Helbostad","year":"2003","journal-title":"Gait Posture"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"935","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2003.11.012","article-title":"Step Width Variability but not Step Length Variability or Step Time Variability, Discriminates Gait of Healthy Young and Older Adults During Treadmill Locomotion","volume":"37","author":"Owings","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Biomech."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"590","DOI":"10.1002\/msj.20280","article-title":"Falls in Older Adults","volume":"78","author":"Bradley","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mt. Sinai J. Med."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Motion Capture Systems\u2014VICON. Available online: http:\/\/www.vicon.com."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9133","DOI":"10.3390\/s91109133","article-title":"Meauring Gait Using a Ground Laser Range Sensor","volume":"9","author":"Palleja","year":"2009","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"Yorozu, A., and Takahashi, M. (October, January 28). Development of Gait Measurement Robot Using Laser Range Sensor for Evaluating Long-distance Walking Ability in the Elderly. Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Hamburg, Germany."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Pepper Softbank Robotics. Available online: https:\/\/www.ald.softbankrobotics.com\/en\/cool-robots\/pepper."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"476","DOI":"10.1093\/ptj\/77.5.476","article-title":"Light Touch Contact as a Balance Aid","volume":"77","author":"Jeka","year":"1997","journal-title":"Phys. Ther."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"397","DOI":"10.3200\/35-09-001","article-title":"Interpersonal Light Touch Assists Balance in the Elderly","volume":"41","author":"Johannsen","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Mot. Behav."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zivotofsky, A.Z., and Hausdorff, J.M. (2007). The Sensory Feedback Mechanisms Enabling Couples to Walk Synchronously: An Initial Investigation. J. Neuroeng. Rehabil., 4.","DOI":"10.1186\/1743-0003-4-28"},{"key":"ref_54","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). TkInter\u2014Python wiki. Available online: https:\/\/wiki.python.org\/moin\/TkInter."},{"key":"ref_55","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Dconnexion SpaceMouse. Available online: https:\/\/www.3dconnexion.com."},{"key":"ref_56","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Dartfish Software. Available online: http:\/\/www.dartfish.com."},{"key":"ref_57","unstructured":"(2017, April 01). Self-Determination Theory: An approach to human motivation and personality-Questionnaires, Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. Available online: http:\/\/selfdeterminationtheory.org."},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Colombo, R., Pisano, F., Mazzone, A., Delconte, C., Micera, S., Carrozza, M.C., Dario, P., and Minuco, P. (2007). Design Strategies to Improve Patient Motivation During Robot-aided Rehabilitation. J. Neuroeng. Rehabil., 4.","DOI":"10.1186\/1743-0003-4-3"},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s11556-008-0033-6","article-title":"Dementia and physical activity","volume":"5","author":"Mechling","year":"2008","journal-title":"Eur. Rev. Aging Phys. Act."}],"container-title":["Future Internet"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/9\/3\/30\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:41:52Z","timestamp":1760208112000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/9\/3\/30"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,8]]},"references-count":59,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,9]]}},"alternative-id":["fi9030030"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/fi9030030","relation":{},"ISSN":["1999-5903"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1999-5903","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,8]]}}}