Sketching the future: Assessing user needs for domestic robots

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss a user-centered vision of future domestic robots based on 48 householders' depiction of their ideal home robots. Through users' creative responses, we aim to identify domestic tasks desired for robotic assistance, and hence guide the design effort to better reflect user needs. Our study results show that householders want domestic robots for tasks including time-consuming drudgeries, house-sitting, and personal attendance. Further, we present three design lessons we learned to increase householders' acceptance of these robots. The design of domestic robots needs to provide a certain amount of human control, be compatible with the user's domestic environment, and take gender into consideration.