PREC 2018: Personal Robots for Exercising and Coaching.

Exercising is strongly recommended for prevention and treatment of pathologies with high prevalence such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that insufficient physical activity is one of the leading risk factors for death worldwide. The decrease of physical activity in our society is not just an individual problem but it is influenced by a variety of environmental and social factors. Hence, it is important to target this issue from a multi-perspective and interdisciplinary point of view. This full-day workshop will offer a forum for researchers from a variety of backgrounds to discuss the potentials and limitations of using social robots to promote physical activity. Looking across dis- ciplinary boundaries we hope to establish a common understanding of the needs of potential target groups. We invite participants to share their experiences on the requirements and challenges imple- menting and deploying robot coaches that could motivate people to start and adhere to a physical activity program.