3R (Robots, Rooms, Relationships): Speculative Homes, Sentient Machines, and the Future of Domesticity

Abstract

The pictorial explores the role of domestic robots in shaping relational and emotional experiences in home environments. Through a participatory workshop featuring a speculative card game 3R (Robots, Rooms, Relationships), participants crafted future home scenarios by combining different robot types, household settings, and interaction modes. The results emphasize how different robot forms evoke unique relational responses. This research investigates how speculative scenarios expand human imagination and foster new emotional and cognitive dimensions in human-robot interaction (HRI). Our findings suggest that domestic robots are not merely functional tools but co-creators of affective ecologies, prompting new design frameworks. We advocate for a shift from deterministic robot functionalities to open-ended, imaginative design approaches that foster co-creative relationships between humans and robots.