SHEBA: A Low-Cost Assistive Robot for Older Adults in the Developing World

Maintaining independence and dignity is a primary goal of successful aging for older adults around the globe. Robots can support this goal in various ways by assisting everyday tasks that become challenging due to aging-related deterioration in physical and mental abilities. While a growing body of research tackles challenges in creating such robots, most work has focused on older adults with high socio-economic status in the developed world. In most cases, the price of these robots alone prohibits their potential use in the developing world. Further, socio-cultural differences in the developing world will limit the usability and chance of adoption of a robot designed based on users in the developed world. Our work aims to close this gap. In this paper we present findings from the user-centered design and development process of a low-cost assistive robot for older adults in the developing world named SHEBA, which is a Bengali term for care. We first interviewed 37 older adults and 21 caregivers in assisted and independent living settings in Dhaka, Bangladesh to gather requirements and understand priorities. We then developed a prototype focused on medication management and delivery and we brought it to an assisted living center to interact with potential older adult users. We interviewed 23 older adults and 5 caregivers who interacted with or observed our prototype to gather feedback. We present quantitative and qualitative data obtained in these interviews, identifying key requirements for robots designed for older adults in the developing world.