1. IS IT REAL? DEALING WITH AN INSECURE PERCEPTION OF A PET ROBOT IN DEMENTIA CARE Martina Heinemann a, Meritxel Valenti Soler b, and Marcel Heerink a a Windesheim University, The Netherlands, b Alzheimer Center Reina Sofía Foundation, Madrid, Spain

2. Explorative study Spanish and Dutch caregivers Experienced and not experienced with robot therapy Map familiarity Explore features Intention to work with robot Look for differences (cultural, experience related,...) Need for guidelines?

3. The reality dilemma Yes, it is real. Yes, it’s a real robot. Yes, it’s a real animal. No, it is not real. What do you think?

6. Spain Netherlands

7. Answers per country Dutch respondents more positive than the Spanish. Comparison to a real animal by 34% of all Dutch respondents and not at all in Spain. YesNoWhat do you believe? Spain30%25%45% Netherlands69%3%28%

8. Conclusion Overall, most caregivers would encourage the patient to accept the robot as real or make up their own mind. Caution may need to be taken when transferring advice from one country to another.

9. Further research Will we see the same tendencies in a greater sample? Do caregivers expect the therapeutic value of the robot to depend on its perceived reality? Influence of situational factors like patient type and context on caregiver’s reply?