NCT07002411

Hospitality Oriented Service Perception Evolution With Robots (HOSPER)

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 200 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Istituto Nazionale di Ricovero e Cura per Anziani · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The HOSPER project aims to determine if using Pepper and NAO social robots at the IRCCS INRCA in Ancona's (Italy) entrance is a viable way to improve the current reception and guidance services for hospital visitors. The robots will offer proactive assistance and directions to departments.

Detailed description

The primary aim of the "HOSPER" project is to assess the feasibility of an innovative reception and proactive guidance service designed to enhance the quality of the existing service provided by the IRCCS INRCA in Ancona (Italy). This will be achieved through the deployment of two social robots, Pepper and NAO, located at the hospital entrance to provide information to users inquiring about directions to specific departments. Furthermore, the study will evaluate the level of participant satisfaction with their interactions with the robots.

Conditions

• Quality of Hospital Entrance Reception
• Social Robots

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Innovative hospital reception service with social robot NAO	The robot NAO welcomes the user and asks how it can assist them. At this point, the user responds, and the robot, in turn, replies in two possible ways: If it has not understood the request, it prompts the user to rephrase it, and the process returns to the previous point. If it has understood the request, it explains the route the user needs to follow. Once the interaction has been successful or two consecutive attempts have failed, the robot asks the user if the necessary information has been provided. If yes, the robot dismisses the user. If no, the interaction resumes from the point where the robot asks for the department to reach or the exam to take.
OTHER	Innovative hospital reception service with social robot PEPPER	The robot PEPPER welcomes the user and asks how it can assist them, stating the following phrase: "Good morning and welcome to INRCA. I am PEPPER and I am here to provide directions to help you reach your desired location within the hospital. Which department do you need to reach or which exam do you need to take? " At this point, the user responds, and the robot, in turn, replies in two possible ways: If it has not understood the request, it prompts the user to rephrase it, and the process returns to the previous point. If it has understood the request, it explains the route the user needs to follow. Once the interaction has been successful or two consecutive attempts have failed, the robot asks the user if the necessary information has been provided. If yes, the robot dismisses the user as follows: "Thank you for your participation. Have a good day." If no, the interaction resumes from the point where the robot asks for the department to reach or the exam to take.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-12-18
• Primary completion: 2025-07-30
• Completion: 2025-07-30
• First posted: 2025-06-03
• Last updated: 2025-06-03

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Italy