SARs are increasingly deployed in sensitive settings, such as therapeutic environments, rehabilitation centres, and care facilities, to support vulnerable populations. For example, SARs can stimulate positive emotions and decrease stress and agitation for people with dementia in informal and formal care settings. However, the design of these robots often reflects biases that limit their accessibility, trustworthiness, and inclusivity, ultimately impacting real-world usability.
Through the workshop, we seek to uncover implicit biases in SAR design and explore strategies for developing more inclusive and adaptable robotic systems that better interact with vulnerable populations. We introduce participatory design as an approach to designing SARs aligned with users' real needs, preferences, and lived experiences. Finally, we aim to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on the ethical considerations surrounding SAR development, reflecting on issues of inclusion, user autonomy, and long-term implications of these technologies, thus contributing to a clearer research direction for the robotics research community.
List of Topics
Explore diverse areas of implementing SARs in sensitive settings for vulnerable user groups, building on input from participants’ previous and ongoing work.
Introduce participatory design as an approach to developing SARs that align with users’ real needs, preferences, and lived experiences.
Examine biases in SAR design and how they affect accessibility, trust, and usability in different scenarios through roleplaying.
Foster interdisciplinary dialogue on the ethical challenges of SAR design, focusing on aspects like inclusion, autonomy, and long-term implementation.