Using a Telepresence Robot to Improve Self-Efficacy of People with Developmental Disabilities
Natalie Friedman, Alex Cabral · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18) · doi:10.1145/3234695.3240985
Summary
This student research paper investigates whether telepresence robots can improve the self-efficacy and wellbeing of people with developmental disabilities (DD) by enabling them to remotely explore public spaces. People with DD often depend on others for transportation, ticket purchasing, and navigating public venues, leading to reduced community engagement and diminished self-efficacy. The study partnered with Hope Services, an organization providing skill-building activities for people with DD, and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz. Six participants (ages 23-43, 83% male) with various developmental disabilities — including autism, Klinefelter Syndrome, mild cognitive disability, organic brain syndrome, intellectual disability, Inverted X Syndrome, OCD, and Dandy Walker with epilepsy — remotely operated a Beam+ telepresence robot to tour two exhibits: an albatross art exhibit and a Meet the Scientists exhibit. Participants controlled the robot from Hope Services while a docent led the tour at the marine center.
Key findings
Participants reported high levels of presence (M=1.71 on a 1-2 scale where 2 is high) and flow (M=1.13 on a 1-2 scale where 2 is low/good), suggesting the telepresence experience was immersive and engaging. Wellbeing showed a positive trend: pre-tour emotional words included mixed responses like "excited," "nervous," and "tired," while post-tour responses shifted to uniformly positive words like "happy," "impressed," and "exhilarating." Sentiment analysis confirmed a positive valence shift (pre: M=.7 to post: M=.76, p<.10). Physical self-efficacy showed a positive trend from pre (M=2.3) to post (M=2.7) tour (t(6)=2.23, p<.10), and social self-efficacy also trended positively from pre (M=2.2) to post (M=2.67) tour (t(6)=-2.24, p<.10). However, with only six participants, these results should be interpreted as trends rather than statistically significant findings. Qualitative responses supported the quantitative trends — one participant stated "I could do it every day. I liked moving around the whole room," suggesting increased physical self-efficacy, while another expressed wanting the robot to "have arms and legs that can walk."
Relevance
This exploratory study opens an underexplored area of telepresence research by focusing on people with developmental disabilities rather than the more commonly studied populations of remote workers or hospitalized individuals. For people with DD who are homebound or dependent on others for community access, telepresence robots offer a way to bypass multiple accessibility barriers simultaneously — transportation, ticket purchasing, navigating crowds, and physical fatigue. The positive trends in both physical and social self-efficacy suggest that the sense of agency from controlling where the robot goes and what it looks at may be particularly meaningful for a population that typically has limited autonomy. While the small sample size limits generalizability, the study provides a foundation for larger investigations and suggests practical applications: museums, libraries, and other public exploratory spaces could offer telepresence access as an accommodation. The partnership model with a disability services organization also demonstrates a replicable approach for community-based accessibility research.
Tags: developmental disability · telepresence · robotics · self-efficacy · community participation · social accessibility · wellbeing · intellectual disability