Abstract
AbstractAs more and more robots enter our social world, there is a strong need for further field studies of humanrobot interaction. Based on a two-year ethnographic study of the implementation of a South Korean socially assistive robot in Danish elderly care, this paper argues that empirical and ethnographic studies will enhance the understanding of the adaptation of robots in real-life settings. Furthermore, the paper emphasizes how users and the context of use matters to this adaptation, as it is shown that roboticists are unable to control how their designs are implemented and how the sociality of social robots is inscribed by its users in practice. This paper can be seen as a contribution to long-term studies of HRI. It presents the challenges of robot adaptation in practice and discusses the limitations of the present conceptual understanding of human-robot relations. The ethnographic data presented herein encourage a move away from static and linear descriptions of the implementation process toward more contextual and relational accounts of HRI.
Highlights
IntroductionCare is seen as a field of ‘special interest’ [1] within social robotics. As the population ages and a lack of caregivers are expected [2], social robots are increasingly viewed as technological fixes to demographic and agerelated challenges, e.g. loneliness and cognitive impairments [3, 4]
Based on a two-year ethnographic study of the implementation of a South Korean socially assistive robot in Danish elderly care, this paper argues that empirical and ethnographic studies will enhance the understanding of the adaptation of robots in real-life settings
The paper emphasizes how users and the context of use matters to this adaptation, as it is shown that roboticists are unable to control how their designs are implemented and how the sociality of social robots is inscribed by its users in practice
Summary
Care is seen as a field of ‘special interest’ [1] within social robotics. As the population ages and a lack of caregivers are expected [2], social robots are increasingly viewed as technological fixes to demographic and agerelated challenges, e.g. loneliness and cognitive impairments [3, 4]. Social robots have already entered elderly care facilities in various countries [5,6,7,8,9,10] and the adoption of various social robots is expected to continue [11, 12] As these robots emerge in society, it becomes an even more. Understanding how social robots are adapted into practice in various use contexts will yield crucial insights of robot applicability in general. It will raise important design and policy questions [13] and assist addressing ethical questions to lessen the unforeseen consequences of emerging robots [14]. This research agenda calls for long-term studies of HRI and ethnographical encounters with robots in the wild [16]
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