Nicole Robinson, David Kavanagh and Leanne Hides are using social robots to encourage adolescents with type 1 diabetes to maintain a regulated diet. The robots deliver a motivational intervention using mental imagery. This work has been preceded by piloting of a similar treatment with adults who want to reduce high-energy snacking, and another project is testing whether high school students find it easy and enjoyable to talk to social robots. We expect that adolescents with diabetes will enjoy talking to the social robots and that the intervention will result in improvements in their dietary control.
