{"id":154798,"date":"2022-01-13T15:45:23","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T20:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sis.utk.edu\/?p=154798"},"modified":"2022-01-13T15:45:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T20:45:23","slug":"sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Professor
Professor Dania Bilal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SIS Professor Dania Bilal has explored research in recent years centered on artificial intelligence (AI) from an information sciences perspective, exploring how people interact with various AI and robot interfaces. She most recently partnered with doctoral student, Fengpei Yuan, and her advisor, Professor Xiaopeng Zhao, at the University of Tennessee Department of\u00a0Mechanical, Aerospace, and\u00a0Biomedical Engineering, and Assistant Professor Ran Zhang at the Miami University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to study how social robots could provide certain therapies for people with dementia to mitigate cognitive decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuan is the first author for the paper that resulted from this research, \u201cLearning-Based Strategy Design for Robot-Assisted Reminiscence Therapy Based on a Developed Model for People with Dementia.\u201d The paper was nominated as a Best Student Paper Finalist by the 13th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2021) in November 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Fengpei Yuan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yuan first met Bilal when she registered to take Bilal\u2019s class Seminar in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and User Experience (UX) in 2018. The semester-long assignment in the class was to work on a research proposal, and for her project, Yuan chose a proposal about using robots to facilitate reminiscence therapy for people with dementia. Reminiscence therapy uses videos and pictures followed by questions designed to encourage clients to talk as much as possible. A social robot is one that can convey human-like emotions via its expressions, voice, and body language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to develop the robot so that the robot can adopt flexibility and talk to a person with dementia, in the context of reminiscent therapy,\u201d Yuan said. \u201cWith this therapy, the more we engage the patient to talk, the more helpful and meaningful it will be to the patient. The social robot can have body movements and can talk and also has a tablet in its chest, so we think that it\u2019s a good idea that we translate this reminiscence therapy to this robot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilal said that this is a new model of training the robot so it can actually attend to the emotional and cognitive behavior of the people it observes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s flexible, it also learns and provides the therapy that is needed according to the state of the patient, to their behavior and emotions,\u201d Bilal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Assistant Professor Ran Zhang, Miami University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If successful, using social robots for reminiscence therapy could fill the gaps in a field that has a dearth of therapists and providers. Yuan said this work is particularly vital because the number of people suffering from Alzheimer-related dementia is increasing rapidly, with the current population numbering around 6.2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAI-enabled social robots may help to reduce the cost of healthcare and help to address the disparity issues by increasing the accessibility of high-quality care and treatment,\u201d Yuan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilal has an interest in research focusing on older adults. When she read the proposal by Yuan she thought it was novel and interesting. Zhao, Yuan\u2019s advisor, and Yuan reached out to Bilal to expand Yuan\u2019s proposal and submit it for external funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it may seem like science fiction to some to imagine robots providing therapy for humans, Bilal said people are becoming more accustomed to robot assistance in their daily lives and now is the time for innovative research such as this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRobots are expensive but competition will bring the prices down. So exploring the technology and doing research on human robot interaction becomes highly important,\u201d Bilal said. \u201cWe want robots to be very positive and to make a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Professor Xiaopeng Zhao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Using social robots and training them how to react to human emotions can go a long way to ensure people feel more comfortable getting help from robots, and it speaks to what is coming in the next wave of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis work makes contributions to promote personalization and behavior adaptation in the applications of socially assistive robots to technology-empowered healthcare,\u201d Zhou said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research itself consisted of collected data from a simulation using the social robot; the researchers wanted to ensure the robot will be ready for real human interaction before taking the big leap of conducting human-centered studies, Yuan said. This initial research is focused on creating a dynamic model that would program a robot how to react to an individual\u2019s emotions and how to answer questions within the context of dementia patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Using robots to automate the RT treatment with deliberately designed reinforcement learning algorithms well matches the current tide of using AI to improve people’s life,\u201d explained Zhang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhang created an algorithm that teaches the robot to learn as it works so it can act based on other\u2019s reactions. For example, the robot would be able to sense human emotions such as anger, discomfort, or frustration from verbal and non-verbal cues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe more research we do, the more acceptable the idea of using robots is going to be, so we definitely need to do lots more work,\u201d Bilal said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SIS Professor Dania Bilal has explored research in recent years centered on artificial intelligence (AI) from an information sciences perspective, exploring how people interact with various AI and robot interfaces. She most recently partnered with doctoral student, Fengpei Yuan, and her advisor, Professor Xiaopeng Zhao, at the University of Tennessee Department of\u00a0Mechanical, Aerospace, and\u00a0Biomedical Engineering, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,163,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-news","category-faculty-research","category-featured-story"],"yoast_head":"\nSIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia - School of Information Sciences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia - School of Information Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SIS Professor Dania Bilal has explored research in recent years centered on artificial intelligence (AI) from an information sciences perspective, exploring how people interact with various AI and robot interfaces. She most recently partnered with doctoral student, Fengpei Yuan, and her advisor, Professor Xiaopeng Zhao, at the University of Tennessee Department of\u00a0Mechanical, Aerospace, and\u00a0Biomedical Engineering, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"School of Information Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-13T20:45:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hillary Tune\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hillary Tune\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hillary Tune\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e\"},\"headline\":\"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-13T20:45:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":851,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sis.utk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/bilalheadshot.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Faculty News\",\"Faculty Research\",\"Featured Story\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/\",\"name\":\"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia - School of Information Sciences\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sis.utk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/bilalheadshot.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-13T20:45:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sis.utk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/bilalheadshot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sis.utk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/bilalheadshot.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/13\\\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/\",\"name\":\"School of Information Sciences\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e\",\"name\":\"Hillary Tune\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/sis\\\/author\\\/htune1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia - School of Information Sciences","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia - School of Information Sciences","og_description":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal has explored research in recent years centered on artificial intelligence (AI) from an information sciences perspective, exploring how people interact with various AI and robot interfaces. She most recently partnered with doctoral student, Fengpei Yuan, and her advisor, Professor Xiaopeng Zhao, at the University of Tennessee Department of\u00a0Mechanical, Aerospace, and\u00a0Biomedical Engineering, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/","og_site_name":"School of Information Sciences","article_published_time":"2022-01-13T20:45:23+00:00","author":"Hillary Tune","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hillary Tune","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/"},"author":{"name":"Hillary Tune","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/#\/schema\/person\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e"},"headline":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia","datePublished":"2022-01-13T20:45:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/"},"wordCount":851,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sis.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bilalheadshot.jpg","articleSection":["Faculty News","Faculty Research","Featured Story"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/","name":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia - School of Information Sciences","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sis.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bilalheadshot.jpg","datePublished":"2022-01-13T20:45:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/#\/schema\/person\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sis.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bilalheadshot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sis.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bilalheadshot.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/2022\/01\/13\/sis-professor-dania-bilal-works-with-phd-student-others-to-learn-how-to-use-social-robots-to-help-people-with-dementia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SIS Professor Dania Bilal Works with PhD Student & Others to Learn How to Use Social Robots to Help People with Dementia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/","name":"School of Information Sciences","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/#\/schema\/person\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e","name":"Hillary Tune","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/author\/htune1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/sis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}