Robots for Communities -- A Value Framework

Abstract

Interactions with robots in organizational and community settings are presented in research mostly as an aggregate of individual interactions, rather than as the product of the social dynamics of the community contexts. Through my Ph.D. research, I have identified the need for a community perspective and conducted field studies to understand the conceptual and methodological relevance of community-centric approaches for Human-Robot Interactions (HRI). I aim to derive a value framework for systematic study of the use and design of robots for communities. A combination of socio-technical and community-centric approaches inform my early conceptualization of 'Community Robots'(CR).