Adaptation profiles in first-time robot users

Abstract

As robotics and other cutting edge technologies increase their presence in our homes in an expanding variety of product typologies, and, as more countries align with this trend, the number of contexts in which people adapt to these new technologies, along with the concept of people and products themselves, increase significantly in their diversity. This scenario thus calls for a better understanding of the contexuality in which adaptation takes place in order to unveil how differences in adaptation patterns occur. For this purpose, two countries with different technological conditions as Peru and South Korea were chosen, broadening the scope and building over existing studies done in Europe and USA. Thereby, four Peruvian and four Korean families were given a robot vacuum cleaner each and their adaptation processes were followed in detail over an extension of 6 months. During this time, periodical visits including Likert scales, semi-structured interviews and generative tools were employed along with periodical video recordings and social media tools. After a combination of ethnographic interpretation, behavioral analysis and grounded theory procedures, three important elements influencing the adaptation patterns were identified, namely the Contextual Novelty of the product, the Family Standards over functional, aesthetic, social matters, and the Family Profile, this last one particularly on regards to the family composition, and the member’s background knowledge, expectations and motivations. From the findings, the Adaptation Profiles Framework (APF) was developed, which elaborates on the existing relationship between adaptation patterns and their influencing elements. Finally, design implications were drawn from this framework in the form of action plans and considerations towards the improvement of the adaptation processes focusing on the importance of their contextuality.