Describing being with a robot – “That’s AMoRE”

Abstract

Robots can be perceived as tools, something almost alive and something in between. We found the perception of robots interesting and wanted to explore further what the experience of being with a robot can be. To investigate this, we formed our research questions: Is there a way to describe the experience of being with a moving non-social robot? and How can the experience of being with a moving non-social robot be systematised? In order to answer these questions, we have performed a multiple case study investigating the experience of being with robot vacuum cleaners, robot lawn mowers, and Boston Dynamics’ Spot. Through our project, we have explored how we can understand and interpret people's descriptions of experience. The result is an analytical framework we have called Analytical Mapping of Robot Experience – AMoRE. We argue that this framework can be used to describe the experience of being with a robot once the experience is systemised by using AMoRE’s four dimensions.