Abstract: Exercise is essential for healthy aging, but motivation and adherence to exercise often decline with age, leading to a more sedentary lifestyle. At the same time, the growing aging population continues to strain the availability of physical therapists and exercise coaches. In this thesis, we introduce a conversational robotic exercise coach system designed to support older adults during exercise. To evaluate this system, we conducted a user study with 10 participants aged 59 and above. We analyzed both survey responses and verbal interactions to understand how participants engaged with the robot and how motivation was expressed during exercise. Based on these findings, this work presents design recommendations for future autonomous conversational exercise robots for older adults.

Committee:

Prof. Aaron Steinfeld (advisor)

Prof. Reid Simmons

Prof. Jean Oh

Michelle Zhao