• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.160-168
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• 2020

There exists a popular belief that the elderly are more conservative than the younger people in acceptability of new technology. This study explores whether the generation gap in technology acceptance exists in the case of using telepresence robots, which project the presence and mobility of remote operator, for the universal purpose of social participation rather than for specific applications. Two groups of senior citizens and undergraduate students in their twenties personally experienced the telepresence robots operation and conducted a survey on how they perceived the social participation of a remote operator mediated by telepresence robot and to what extent the remote operator deserve equal rights to be treated as if one really exists in the local environment. The results show that the elderly have higher expectation on the role and functions of telepresence robots, and more favorable in principle for a remote operator to exercise equal rights by operating telepresence robot. It suggests that the stereotypes, the elderly lag behind younger generation in accepting new technology, is unlikely to fit into the telepresence robot market, for the elderly have more favor and support using telepresence robots as an universal avatar for social participation.