Towards Evaluation of Social Robotic Telepresence based on Measures of Social and Spatial Presence

In this paper we present data collected at a training session for health care personnel and alarm operators in steering a mobile social robotic telepresence robot for the first time. The purpose of the system is to be used as a communicative tool particularly when interacting with an elderly audience. The results are based on questionnaires which includes questions about experienced social and spatial presence from the Temple Presence Inventory as well as the Networked Minds Social Presence Inventory. Also investigated in this study is how intuitive the system was to use as well as how attentive the users were to what was going on in the environment. Over thirty healthcare personnel and alarm operators participate in the study and the overall results presented in the paper suggest that the two questionnaires are indeed suitable for use also in the social robotic telepresence domain for providing indications on both social and spatial presence.