This study centers around the design and implementation of the Maya Robot, a portable elephant-shaped social robot, intended to engage with children undergoing cancer treatment. Initial efforts were devoted to enhancing the robot's facial expression recognition accuracy, achieving a 98% accuracy through deep neural networks. Two subsequent preliminary exploratory experiments were designed to advance the study's objectives. The first experiment aimed to compare pain levels experienced by children during the injection process, with and without the presence of the Maya robot. Twenty-five children, aged 4 to 9, undergoing cancer treatment participated in this counterbalanced study. The paired T-test results revealed a significant reduction in perceived pain when the robot was actively present in the injection room. The second experiment sought to assess perspectives of hospitalized children and their mothers during engagement with Maya through a game. Forty participants, including 20 children aged 4 to 9 and their mothers, were involved. Post Human-Maya Interactions, UTAUT questionnaire results indicated that children experienced significantly less anxiety than their parents during the interaction and game play. Notably, children exhibited higher trust levels in both the robot and the games, presenting a statistically significant difference in trust levels compared to their parents (P-value < 0.05). This preliminary exploratory study highlights the positive impact of utilizing Maya as an assistant for therapy/education in a clinical setting, particularly benefiting children undergoing cancer treatment. The findings underscore the potential of social robots in pediatric healthcare contexts, emphasizing improved pain management and emotional well-being among young patients.

翻译：本研究围绕Maya机器人的设计与实施展开，该机器人是一款便携式大象形态社交机器人，旨在与接受癌症治疗的儿童进行互动。初期工作致力于提升机器人面部表情识别准确率，通过深度神经网络实现了98%的准确度。随后设计了两项初步探索性实验以推进研究目标。第一项实验旨在比较儿童在注射过程中，有Maya机器人陪伴与无陪伴时的疼痛水平。25名4至9岁接受癌症治疗的儿童参与了这项平衡设计研究。配对T检验结果显示，当机器人在注射室主动存在时，儿童感知疼痛显著降低。第二项实验通过游戏互动评估住院儿童及其母亲与Maya互动时的观感。40名参与者（包括20名4至9岁儿童及其母亲）参与其中。人机互动后，UTAUT问卷结果表明，儿童在互动和游戏过程中的焦虑水平显著低于其父母。值得注意的是，儿童对机器人及游戏表现出更高的信任度，与父母信任水平存在统计学显著差异（P值<0.05）。这项初步探索性研究突显了在临床环境中使用Maya作为治疗/教育辅助工具的积极影响，尤其使接受癌症治疗的儿童受益。研究结果强调了社交机器人在儿科医疗场景中的潜力，重点关注改善年轻患者的疼痛管理与情绪健康。