{"title":"留下来的机器人:了解孩子和家庭如何与退休的社交机器人互动。","authors":"Zhao Zhao, Rhonda McEwen","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1628089","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Social robots are increasingly introduced into homes as short-term educational or entertainment tools for children. However, their physical presence and social roles may persist long after their intended use has ended. This study explores how families continue to engage with a child-focused educational robot years after its original deployment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective follow-up study with 19 families who participated in a 2021 in-home deployment of a reading companion robot for preschool-aged children. In 2025, we revisited these families through in-depth interviews to investigate how the robot had been integrated, re-purposed, or preserved over time.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Despite the children outgrowing the robot's instructional content, 18 families had retained the robot. Families described transitions in its role-from an educational device to a symbolic household member-characterized by emotional attachment, care-taking behaviors, and affection. The robot was re-framed as a memory object, integrated into new routines, or passed on ceremonially, akin to a \"retirement.\"</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Our findings reveal three key themes explaining the robot's enduring presence: (1) emotional attachment and personification, (2) symbolic and nostalgic value, and (3) practical re-purposing within household routines. This study contributes to long-term human-robot interaction literature by extending domestication theory and emphasizing the importance of designing for the full life cycle of social robots-including end-of-life transitions. It underscores how social robots can become meaningful companions and enduring artifacts of family identity, long after their functional use has ended.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1628089"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12370748/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The robot that stayed: understanding how children and families engage with a retired social robot.\",\"authors\":\"Zhao Zhao, Rhonda McEwen\",\"doi\":\"10.3389/frobt.2025.1628089\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Social robots are increasingly introduced into homes as short-term educational or entertainment tools for children. However, their physical presence and social roles may persist long after their intended use has ended. This study explores how families continue to engage with a child-focused educational robot years after its original deployment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective follow-up study with 19 families who participated in a 2021 in-home deployment of a reading companion robot for preschool-aged children. In 2025, we revisited these families through in-depth interviews to investigate how the robot had been integrated, re-purposed, or preserved over time.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Despite the children outgrowing the robot's instructional content, 18 families had retained the robot. Families described transitions in its role-from an educational device to a symbolic household member-characterized by emotional attachment, care-taking behaviors, and affection. The robot was re-framed as a memory object, integrated into new routines, or passed on ceremonially, akin to a \\\"retirement.\\\"</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Our findings reveal three key themes explaining the robot's enduring presence: (1) emotional attachment and personification, (2) symbolic and nostalgic value, and (3) practical re-purposing within household routines. This study contributes to long-term human-robot interaction literature by extending domestication theory and emphasizing the importance of designing for the full life cycle of social robots-including end-of-life transitions. It underscores how social robots can become meaningful companions and enduring artifacts of family identity, long after their functional use has ended.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":47597,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Frontiers in Robotics and AI\",\"volume\":\"12 \",\"pages\":\"1628089\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":3.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-08-08\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12370748/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Frontiers in Robotics and AI\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1628089\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2025/1/1 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"eCollection\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"ROBOTICS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1628089","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ROBOTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
The robot that stayed: understanding how children and families engage with a retired social robot.
Introduction: Social robots are increasingly introduced into homes as short-term educational or entertainment tools for children. However, their physical presence and social roles may persist long after their intended use has ended. This study explores how families continue to engage with a child-focused educational robot years after its original deployment.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective follow-up study with 19 families who participated in a 2021 in-home deployment of a reading companion robot for preschool-aged children. In 2025, we revisited these families through in-depth interviews to investigate how the robot had been integrated, re-purposed, or preserved over time.
Results: Despite the children outgrowing the robot's instructional content, 18 families had retained the robot. Families described transitions in its role-from an educational device to a symbolic household member-characterized by emotional attachment, care-taking behaviors, and affection. The robot was re-framed as a memory object, integrated into new routines, or passed on ceremonially, akin to a "retirement."
Discussion: Our findings reveal three key themes explaining the robot's enduring presence: (1) emotional attachment and personification, (2) symbolic and nostalgic value, and (3) practical re-purposing within household routines. This study contributes to long-term human-robot interaction literature by extending domestication theory and emphasizing the importance of designing for the full life cycle of social robots-including end-of-life transitions. It underscores how social robots can become meaningful companions and enduring artifacts of family identity, long after their functional use has ended.
期刊介绍:
Frontiers in Robotics and AI publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research covering all theory and applications of robotics, technology, and artificial intelligence, from biomedical to space robotics.