Together with Diakonie Nord Nord Ost in Lübeck, we are investigating how the social robot Navel (navelrobotics.com) can be used in a workplace for people with disabilities. The aim is to strengthen the digital participation of the people there and to provide information and support according to the possibilities of the interaction partner.

In addition to realizing basic skills of the robot such as understanding and speaking using a large language model and using simple language, cognitive skills such as remembering conversations with people the robot already knows are also to be developed. For the latter, a cognitive architecture (ACT-R) is envisioned that simulates basic human cognitive functions. The idea behind this is that methods based on human cognitive processes can also be useful for controlling the behavior of social robots. To do so, suitable cognitive models will be developed and integrated into the robot application.