Evaluating Human-Robot Collaboration in Hospital Practice: Introducing HERO.

As robots are increasingly integrated into hospital environments, evaluating human-robot collaboration (HRC) requires more than assessing technical performance or user acceptance. This paper introduces the HERO framework - a socio-technical evaluation model for assessing human-robot collaboration (HRC) in hospital environments. Unlike existing models that center on technical performance or user acceptance, HERO integrates ethnographic insight and systemic analysis to foreground the interdependencies between social practices, spatial dynamics, robotic behavior, and institutional structures. Developed through fieldwork, interviews, and a scoping review, HERO consists of four interrelated dimensions: Humans, Environment, Robots, and Organisation. Each is operationalised through guiding questions to support both empirical inquiry and practical application. HERO offers a novel, practice-oriented contribution to the evaluation of HRC in complex real-world settings.