PODER: A Robot Programming Framework to Further Inclusion of People with Mild Cognitive Impairment in HRI Research

Many HRI researchers have engaged in participatory research to include users in robot design processes. However, to our knowledge, people with mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI) and early stage dementia have yet to be included in developing and programming robots, and the HRI community lacks tools to facilitate their inclusion. We bridge this gap by introducing PODER (PrOgramming framework to Develop Robot behaviors), which enables a lived technology experience for PwMCI via scaffolding, peer programming, and development tools to support them as key developers of social robots. We conducted a study where PwMCI and early stage dementia used PODER to program robot interactions, and found that participants were highly engaged and deeply enjoyed their experience, creating programs for robots that reflected their interests, experiences, and needs. Our results show the impact of including participants with MCI and early stage dementia in robot programming, including an increased understanding of technology, shifting their perceived role from technology users to programmers, and desire to be involved with the end-to-end process. By releasing PODER to the community, we hope this work can facilitate the intentional inclusion of people with cognitive impairments in further HRI research.