GRANTS AWARDED
Primary Investigator (PI) - 2019
Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP). Awarded UTA’s Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP 2019) grant for Using Arts and Social Sciences to enhance social companion robots’ adaptive abilities to improve health outcomes. Primary Investigator of an interdisciplinary team consisting of College of Liberal Arts-Theatre Arts, Computer Science and Engineering-College of Engineering, College of Science-Psychology and College of Nursing and Health Innovation.
Study content: The objective of this proposal is a pilot study that examines the impact of a social robot, adaptive control methodologies, and applied theatre techniques, and exercise to impact prospective memory and physical goals in older adults (N = 20). This pilot data will support our long-term goal to develop a robotic platform using innovative machine learning techniques that promote and allow the robot to adapt its interaction with the human dynamically to improve exercise goals among older adults. To achieve this, the proposed research is integrating arts-driven methodology, including trust and connection, and novel robot control and learning approaches for interactions between humans and robots to impact prospective memory.
Co-Primary Investigator (Co-PI) Ongoing – 2017 - present
NID - NIDILRR - Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Inclusive Technologies (WIT RERC). (UTA Site). Modeling socially assistive robotic caretakers for individuals with developmental disabilities having older adult caregivers. RERC on Wireless Inclusive Technologies. National Institute on Disability and Independent Living Research (NIDILRR), (9/30/21). Total Grant $4,525,000 (UTA, $108,000) the Primary Investigator is Dr. John Bricout of UTA’s School of Social Work. Dr. Ling Xu site PI.
Study content: Study aims to explore and create a collaborative relationship between a care recipient, an older adult caretaker, and a socially assistive robot (SAR) in order to develop engaging interaction for caregiver respite. Study will incorporate future work with Department of Theatre Arts NAO and Pepper robot units in the Emotional Robotics Living Lab, UT-Arlington. J. Greer, director.
Co-Primary Investigator (Co-PI) Ongoing – 2018 - 2021
Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Assistive Technologies for People with Disabilities (NSF grant CNS-1757641)
REU - Assistive Technologies for People with Disabilities. Summer program research internships for qualified undergraduates to participate in research in the field of assistive technologies for people with disabilities. Theatre arts methodology is applied as a platform for engagement, connection, and trust in human-robot interaction, one of several multi-disciplinary projects the participants will engage in during 10-week internship. Budget $318,778.
Study content: In this project, the CSE Department, in partnership with several other departments at UTA, will offer a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program focusing on assistive technologies (AT) for people with disabilities (PWD). The proposed theme encompasses innovative and novel topics that can help PWD meet barriers of different kinds - attitudinal, architectural, and technological - in accessing employment, navigating public spaces, freely communicating, and living independently. During this summer, each student will be working in a multi-disciplinary setting and exposed to innovative and novel inter-disciplinary projects through research and prototyping. The REU participants will work on computer programming, algorithms, sensors, data analytics, machine learning, computer vision, sensors, sign language, facial recognition, emotion and behavior analysis, smart care, augmented reality, data analytics, robots, human-machine interaction.
Primary Investigator (PI) - 2016
Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP). Awarded the second annual UTA’s Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP 2016) grant for Shakespeare and Robots: Examining the impact of a theatre intervention on psychological well-being in older adults. One of only four grants awarded to the UTA research community. Primary Investigator of an interdisciplinary team consisting of College of Liberal Arts-Theatre Arts, UTA Research Institute (UTARI), and UTA’s School of Social Work.
Study content: The objective of this pilot study is to examine the impact of a theatre intervention utilizing the text of Shakespeare on the psychological well-being of older adults. This study examines theater performance methodologies through a social robotic platform. This pilot data will support our long-term goal to develop a robotic platform that can promote social connectivity and decrease loneliness among older adults by incorporating arts-driven methodology. This grant will continue through 2016 and 2017.
Co-Primary Investigator (Co-PI) Ongoing - 2018
Phase II – Shakespeare and Robots.
The proposal seeks to expand the Shakespeare and Robots: Examining the impact of a theatre intervention on psychological well-being in older adults with participants that are diagnosed with mild cognitive decline. As PI on the original study, I am collaborating with the School of Social Work Presidential Fellows recipient, Dr. Noelle Fields, to test the outcomes of the study on a new participant sample at Brookdale Assisted Living in Arlington.
Primary Investigator (PI) - 2015
Digital Arts and Humanities Initiatives (DAHI) A Robot Walks into a Waiting Room…Humor in Healthcare Waiting Rooms to Enhance HRI.
Primary investigator for an interdisciplinary team consisting of College of Liberal Arts and UTA Research Institute (UTARI) from the University of Texas at Arlington. The team will conduct a pilot study in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) at three separate locations; Office of Student Disabilities, Lakewood Retirement Community, Theatre Arts main office. Awarded from the College of Liberal Arts, Jan. 15th, 2016.
Study content: This is a study to inform how Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), specifically the use of improvisational humor in an assistive robot, may positively impact attitudes toward HRI. The scope of the project will be the development of a pilot study and data collection of human-robot responses from three separate locations and with dissimilar subjects. Measurement will be through an adaptation of the NARS (Negative Attitudes toward Robots Scale), visual qualitative observation, log entries of human-robot interactions during the study, and ambient sound recordings for the detection of laughter and vocal responses from participants. The innovative approach of this research comes from the interdisciplinary work of UTA Theatre Arts and UTARI, bringing together divergent disciplines of theater arts and robotics. This study builds on previous published work on social robots, voice, movement theatre techniques, and healthcare settings to further the body of HRI literature. The robot will be controlled through a “Wizard-of-Oz” methodology scenario performed by undergraduate research assistants under the supervision of faculty. The project will conduct an innovative investigation of the best social robot and HRI practices available at UT-Arlington (UTARI robotic platform laboratory) as well as best practices for improvisation/humor techniques, applied drama, and performance studies. Preliminary data will be collected to allow for future studies and breakthroughs in Human-Robot Interaction. This proposal is well-suited to add to a discussion of UT-Arlington’s strategic initiatives; Health and the Human Condition and Data-Driven Discovery.
GRANT PROPOSALS SUBMITTED and/or in DEVELOPMENT
Primary Investigator (PI) - 2019
Research Enhance Program
Proposal submitted with Prof. Fillia Makedon. “InBlue: A smart system of sensors, theatre, and robots to help college depression”.
Depression is a leading cause of suicide and the second most common cause of death among college students. It is pervasive in colleges today and frequently goes undetected and untreated. The American College Health Association (ACHA) found that 39% of college students “felt so depressed that it was difficult to function” at least once during 2016-2017. College depression can lead to poor academic and work performance, substance abuse, social dysfunction, legal difficulties, gun violations, ill health, suicide attempts or completed suicide. Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include symptoms shown in Table 1. Identifying early warning signs of depression is crucial in preventing negative consequences and helping educators and mental health experts make targeted counselling and intervention decisions. To address college depression, it is of great interest to academia and the healthcare industry, to see how sensor technologies (e.g. mobile smartphones, wearable sensors, social robots) could be used to improve the wellbeing and mental health of users. Smartphones and wearables are excellent devices that can passively collect real time behavioural data, and be used to complement traditional depression diagnosis and monitoring, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).
Primary Investigator (PI) - 2018
Keck Foundation – Undergraduate Categorization
One-page conceptual theme submitted to Randall Gentry, Dr. Duane Dimos, and Dr. Ann Cavallo. The proposal for Keck Foundation is being developed as an expansion of the 2016 Shakespeare and Robots: Examining the impact of a theatre intervention on psychological well-being in older adults. Building on the success of two pilot studies, a proposal is submitted by UTA to include more complexity in the participatory arts from a sonnet to a Shakespearean scene. The study will incorporate five consecutive visits building on an innovative five-point theatre model to decrease depression, loneliness, and increase engagement among older adults.
UTA Lead - 2018
NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
A collaboration external funding with TechComb, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and Univ. of Texas at Arlington. Greer is UTA Lead on the proposal. Title: Boosting STEM Patronage of Libraries and Museums through Interactive Social Robots.
Primary Investigator (PI) - 2018
National Institutes of Health (NIH) – Exploratory/Developmental Research (R21)
The proposal for NIH is being developed as an expansion of the 2016 Shakespeare and Robots: Examining the impact of a theatre intervention on psychological well-being in older adults. Focusing on the health benefits to the older adults and the success of two pilot studies, a proposal will be drafted to include more complexity in the participatory arts from a sonnet to a Shakespearean scene and the study will incorporate five consecutive visits building on the theatre methodology process of composing a live performance.
Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) - 2017
National Science Foundation (NSF) – Advanced Informal STEM Learning (AISL)
Primary collaborator on the resubmission of an 18+ page proposal that comes under the AISL project type: (4) Innovations in Development. This project will incorporate robotics technology and advanced human robot interaction tools to help the audience build interest in STEM concepts, engage in hands-on activities to explore STEM potentials, and take part in a network of learners sharing their experience, ideas, and achievements in STEM. These three primary STEM objectives i.e. excitement, engagement, and expression, otherwise termed as E3, will be realized through a unique merger of theatre arts and robotics science methodologies into a metasystem of diverse autonomous robotic hardware and a novel platform agnostic human-robot interaction software. It is important to note this is a re-submission to NSF due in part to the positive response from NSF project managers regarding the core component of Theatre Arts Methodologies.
Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) - 2016
National Science Foundation (NSF) – Smart and Autonomous Systems (S&AS)
This foundational proposal was a collaboration of UT-Arlington Department of Theatre Arts and UTARI (UTA research institute). The study will develop a new type of robot learning framework for next generation intelligent physical system. The proposed framework will implement a novel neuro-adaptive control technique for advanced human robot interaction, which will enable future robotic systems to derive seamless experiential learning from unaltered human behavior. Potential use case scenarios include a humanoid robot interacting with a diverse group of students and engaging them with innovative theatre methodology performance techniques in informative communication. Human aspects, such as trust, emotion-bias towards performance, and organic selection, are built into the analytical model for the proposed humanistic robot learning framework, which enables life-long evolution of the robot. The proposed project is driven by the motivation to make robots a part of the human society and not a parallel alien race, and, therefore, to evolve them through human ingenuity, emotions, and fallibility.
Principal Investigator (PI) - 2015
Interdisciplinary Research Program
An interdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Theatre Arts and the Electrical Engineering Department at University of Texas at Arlington. Proposal was written and developed for UTA’s Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP) inaugural year, 2015. Collaborated with co-principal investigator, Dr. Dan Popa. Proposal received positive response and was within the top 10 proposals for the year. Proposal titled Live Theatre – Robot Live: a collaboration of robotics and performance.
Proposal content: In this project, the team will develop software to allow a robot to perform on-stage in a seminal role during the Mainstage season. This proposal will utilize faculty and student roles working in an inter-disciplinary environment.
Co-Principal investigator (Co-PI) - 2015
Interdisciplinary Research Program
Interdisciplinary collaboration between Department of Theatre Arts, UTARI, and the Director of the Disabilities Minor at University of Texas at Arlington. Wrote and developed a grant proposal for UTA’s Inter-Disciplinary Research Program (IRP) inaugural year, 2015. Collaborated with Kris Doelling, research scientist II, Manoj Mittal, research scientist II and Co-PI, Dr. Sarah F. Rose. Proposal titled Cyber Human Relationships: Engineering a relational model using theatre arts methodology structured to improve health and the human condition.
Proposal content: In this project, the team will engineer a cyber-human relational model using theatre arts methodology in order to address significant gaps in the current state of healthcare. We believe theatre arts, social robotics and relational methodologies are emerging as innovative components of healthcare for persons with disabilities.