Towards Equitable Robotic Furnishing Agents for Aging-in-Place: ADL-Grounded Design Exploration

Abstract

In aging-in-place contexts, small difficulties in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) can accumulate, affecting well-being through fatigue, anxiety, reduced autonomy, and safety risks. This position paper argues that robotics for older adult wellbeing must move beyond "convenience features" and centre equity, justice, and responsibility. We conducted ADL-grounded semi-structured interviews with four adults in their 70s-80s, identifying recurrent challenges (finding/ organising items, taking medication, and transporting objects) and deriving requirements to reduce compounded cognitive-physical burden. Based on these insights, we propose an in-home robotic furnishing-agent concept leveraging computer vision and generative AI and LLMs for natural-language interaction, context-aware reminders, safe actuation, and user-centred transparency. We then report video-stimulated follow-up interviews with the same participants, highlighting preferences for confirmation before actuation, predictability, adjustable speed/autonomy, and multimodal feedback, as well as equity-related concerns. We conclude with open questions on evaluating and deploying equitable robotic wellbeing systems in real homes.