Elderly People Benefit More from Positive Feedback Based on Their Reactions in the Form of Facial Expressions during Human-Computer Interaction

In this brief report, we present the results of our investigation into the impact of age on reactions in the form of facial expressions to positive and negative feedback during human-computer interaction. In total, 30 subjects were analyzed after a video-recorded mental task in the style of a Wizard of Oz scenario. All subjects and their facial reactions were coded using the Facial Expression Coding System (FACES). To summarize briefly, we can conclude from our facial expression analysis that compared with their younger counterparts, elderly people show significantly lower levels of negative expression in response to positive feedback from the technical system (“Your performance is improving!”). This result indicates that elderly people seem to benefit more from praise during interaction than younger people, which is significant for the design of future companion technologies.