An early pilot study from University of Oslo, 2016, using qualitative interviews: observation, questionnaires and feedback via email.

The authors argue that focusing on the needs of youth suffering from ME/CFS is needed. This study does this by researching how a technology could support these youth in their everyday lives. Access to education and social connectedness are identified as particularly relevant part of the everyday life for this user group.

The technology in the study is a robot-avatar (early prototypes of AV1 robots), which is intended as means to reduce social isolation and increase possibilities of getting access to education. They conclude:

"It acts as an avatar for children at risk of isolation and represents them in social contexts at school and within friends and family. Already at this stage of prototyping, the robot-avatar represents the solution that solves the problems of access to education for ME/CFS sufferers better than any of the technical solutions discussed in the literature section."

They also comment on its ease of use and wider application for children with ME/CFS:

"In addition, the first trials in real life show huge potential of the avatar, both in terms of ease of use, and because lessons learned from these two cases most certainly generalise to many of those suffering from ME/CFS. This because the participants had many problems common to ME/CFS, and the feedback from the study is that using the avatar has worsened none of the symptoms. On the contrary, very positive feedback from participants, school and parents were received."

Full article.

Bibliography

Børsting and Culén, University of Oslo, Norway, 2016, 'A robot-avatar: Easier access to education and reduction in isolation.'