Telepresence Robots for Remote Participation in Higher Education

Hu, Junrui; Reyes Cruz, Gisela; Fischer, Joel; Maior, Horia Alexandru

Abstract

Telepresence robotics enable people to synchronously communicate and interact at a distance. The Covid-19 pandemic caused in-person teaching and research activities to migrate online in almost all society sectors (including higher education). In hybrid learning environments, telepresence robots have the potential to increase the effectiveness of distance learning by enhancing user presence, allowing students to remain physically embodied and socially connected. However, to be accepted, trusted, and adopted in higher education, more work is needed to investigate the specific requirements of telepresence robotics in these settings. In this paper, we present the results of a mixed methods study exploring how the use of a telepresence robot in a simulated learning and research environment affects trust in and user experience of telepresence robots used in higher education. We aimed to understand users' attitudes and requirements for the use of telepresence robots in academic teaching and research. Our findings suggest that the level of trust is contingent upon the user, the performance of the robot, and the credibility of the developing organisation. We additionally map out the current challenges encountered by the use of telepresence robots in these settings and provide suggestions to improve user experience by highlighting new software and hardware capabilities.

Citation

Hu, J., Reyes Cruz, G., Fischer, J., & Maior, H. A. (2024, June). Telepresence Robots for Remote Participation in Higher Education. Presented at CHIWORK 2024, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

• Presentation Conference Type: Edited Proceedings
• Conference Name: CHIWORK 2024
• Start Date: Jun 25, 2024
• End Date: Jun 27, 2024
• Acceptance Date: Mar 23, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 25, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 25, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 14, 2024
• Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Article Number: 6
• Book Title: CHIWORK '24: Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work
• ISBN: 979-8-4007-1017-9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3663384.3663394
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/36579928
• Publisher URL: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3663384.3663394