Cooking and Cleaning: Exploratory Investigation of Users’ Perception of How Two Domestic Service Robots (DSRs) Should Collaborate

Abstract

Interacting with domestic service robots (DSRs) will change from one-to-one to one-to-multiple, forming new possibilities for reciprocal relationships among DSRs and humans. We distributed an online questionnaire to collect preferences and stances regarding DSRs. Respondents were introduced to one of four use cases where a cooking robot and a cleaning robot were working simultaneously in the home. Data was obtained from 147 respondents who own a cleaning robot. General stances toward DSRs reflect concerns about usability, attitude, and effort. Competency and control concerns were further emphasized for the unfamiliar cooking robot. Trust corresponded with familiarity, understanding of robots’ competencies, and reliability. Respondents were reluctant to allow the cleaning and cooking robots to interact without their consent. Barriers to adopting multiple connected robots in the home need to be mapped and addressed in future studies.