Fostering Well-being in Care with the Nautical Designed Plant Watering Robot

The well-being of older people in care homes does not only rely on health and bodily needs but also includes spiritual or social needs. The presence of plants and distraction from everyday routines are two rarely addressed issues in this regard. Having those in mind, we developed the concept of the 'Plant Watering Robot' (PWR), a robotic device that has a double purpose: to water plants and serve as an attraction to observers thereby creating amusement. It is designed as a little ship inhabited by a small 'captain' that is displayed as being in charge of the device's actions. The pilot interacts with various synchronized elements building up a narrative of being in charge of watering the plants. We first report on related work before describing the interaction concept in more detail. We then elaborate the technical implementation of the PWR focussing on mechanical and software aspects.