Connecting the Dots of Social Robot Design From Interviews With Robot Creators

Abstract

Despite promises about the near-term potential of social robots to share our daily lives, they remain unable to form autonomous, lasting, and engaging relationships with humans. Many companies are deploying social robots into the consumer and commercial market; however, both the companies and their products are relatively short lived for many reasons. For example, current social robots succeed in interacting with humans only within controlled environments, such as research labs, and for short time periods since longer interactions tend to provoke user disengagement. We interviewed 13 roboticists from robot manufacturing companies and research labs to delve deeper into the design process for social robots and unearth the many challenges robot creators face. Our research questions were: 1) What are the different design processes for creating social robots? 2) How are users involved in the design of social robots? 3) How are teams of robot creators constituted? Our qualitative investigation showed that varied design practices are applied when creating social robots but no consensus exists about an optimal or standard one. Results revealed that users have different degrees of involvement in the robot creation process, from no involvement to being a central part of robot development. Results also uncovered the need for multidisciplinary and international teams to work together to create robots. Drawing upon these insights, we identified implications for the field of Human-Robot Interaction that can shape the creation of best practices for social robot design.

Application of Social Robots in Healthcare: Review on Characteristics, Requirements, Technical Solutions

“…The contribution of neuroscience and philosophy here is really decisive. No researcher or scholar today questions this, which therefore must be held firm: the design of social robots needs a multidisciplinary team [ 193 ] of experts who have in mind the processuality, the becoming of the human with whom the robot must interact. Robots and humans grow and develop together: knowing that there is this process and knowing it in its particularity is fundamental to effectively design a social robot.…”

Managing social-educational robotics for students with autism spectrum disorder through business model canvas and customer discovery

“…BMC’s visual representation (refer to Table 1 ) encourages collaboration among team members, providing a clear and concise representation of the social robot’s components and their interrelationships. BMC’s modular structure enables researchers and developers to easily modify and update different aspects of the social robot as new insights or technological advancements emerge ( Alves-Oliveira et al, 2022 ; Arora et al, 2023 ). By utilizing the BMC, researchers can create a visual representation of the various components that help in a successful social robot interaction and implementation, including customer segments, value propositions, channels, and revenue streams ( Arora et al, 2023 ).…”

The League: A person‐centred approach to the development of social robotics for paediatric anxiety

“…It is therefore urgent to understand what is most important to both children and families when it comes to social robotics and children's mental health to ensure that these newly popular technologies are deployed in an ethical, evidence‐based and patient‐centred manner. However, at present, social robotics are often developed and implemented without substantial end‐user feedback 34,35 …”

“…However, at present, social robotics are often developed and implemented without substantial end-user feedback. 34,35 The present work falls into the categories of digital technology and co-creation in the 'mosaic of neuroethics'. 36 Informed by a neuroethics framework, it is intended to evaluate, on an ongoing basis, whether the benefits of companion robots for brain health outweigh the risks and respond to this balance by informing future research, implementation and policy in this area.…”