Prova de Doutoramento da aluna Ana Isabel Caniço Neto
Área: Engenharia Informática e de Computadores
Título da Tese: Fostering Inclusion among Mixed-Visual Ability Children through Social Robots
Local da Prova: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/94445991764
Data: 27/03/2024
Hora: 14h30
Abstract: Children with visual impairment are increasingly included in mainstream schools as an inclusive education practice. However, despite being side-by-side with their sighted peers, recent studies show that they face classroom participation issues, lack of collaborative learning, and reduced social engagement. Robots can potentially support inclusive classroom experiences by leveraging their physicality, multimodal feedback, sensors, and bespoke social behaviors. They can act as intelligent and accessible social agents promoting inclusive group activities. However, the design of social robots for mixed-visual abilities classrooms is largely unexplored. Our goal was to address this gap and investigate the potential of social robots to facilitate small group activities among children with and without visual impairments in classroom settings. We aimed to promote children's equitable participation while enhancing their social engagement, sense of belonging, and preserving their uniqueness. With social robots we engaged with more than 13 schools and 200 children to achieve this goal. We facilitated participatory design sessions, built two social robots, and conducted four user studies exploring how different robots' roles, shapes, and behaviors and their effect on group inclusion. This dissertation contributes to human-robot interaction through 1) Community engagement involving school stakeholders and the co-creation of social robots with children. 2) Empirical user studies conducted in mixed-visual abilities classrooms. 3) Development of computational mechanisms for robot behavior to sustain inclusive interactions. 4) Explore diverse roles that robots can assume in group interactions and examine how robots' different behavior strategies impact the inclusion of children in mixed- visual ability contexts. Our work showed that social robots can positively impact inclusion in mixed-ability school settings. This research places social robots as promising agents for creating a more inclusive society where everyone is welcome, has equal opportunities, and has their voices heard.