1st Workshop on

Robots as Welfare Technologies and Actors within Future Home- and Healthcare Services:

Co-Designing an Integration Model through Story-Dialogue Method

ROBOWELL

When: Saturday, 3rd of October, 14.00-17.30

Where: NordiCHI2026

Agenda

This workshop explores whether, how, and under which conditions Welfare Robots (WRs), may be meaningfully integrated into future home- and healthcare services and practices. Building on current debates on welfare technology, AI-driven robots, and post-growth Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), the workshop invites designers, roboticists, engineers, healthcare professionals, philosophers, sociologists, and other practitioners to critically examine and systematically engage in contributing to exploring design alternatives and co-design a future model for responsible integration of robots into future care services, using Story Dialogue Method.

Introduction

In the recent years, various welfare countries, including the Nordic ones, have adopted Welfare Technologies (WT) (e.g., GPS alarms, fall alarms, medicine dispensers, mobility aids, cameras), to support ageing populations, or other vulnerable groups, as part of their home- or healthcare services [1], [2]. These WTs, in contrast to Artificial Intelligence-driven WTs, are often static, not necessarily being able to move by themselves in a physical shared space, to take complex decisions, or to execute complex tasks. Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) [3], often portrayed as complex and dynamic WTs, but also as actors, aim to provide both physical assistance in daily tasks and social companionship to human users [4]. Recently, Large Visual and Language Models (VLMs and LLMs), as well as world-models, and been integrated within humanoid robots such as Neo from 1X or Optimus from Tesla. These robots show great promise that they will soon be able to do routine work and mundane tasks, loading the dishwasher, bringing in or delivering items, or managing other types of tasks.

Many SARs developed with the aim of becoming Welfare Robots (WR) – robots that are integrated as part of home- and healthcare services and practices, have different morphologies and capabilities. WR are often designed, developed and tested in various contexts and scenarios across the globe in isolated studies, without necessarily taking into consideration the larger care infrastructures they should eventually be integrated within in the future. Recently, a post-growth perspective to Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) [5] aims to reframe the relationship between robotics, sustainability and society, emphasizing the idea of engaging critically with what robotic futures are possible, and which shall be pursued, and for whom. Along the same lines, we argue that, while we need to make these robot-related (design) choices, we also need to re-think and re-evaluate whether, how, and under which conditions, considering that care infrastructures, services and practices may vary greatly between countries, regions, or cultures. Integrating these WRs at large-scale may imply several factors. First, the technological readiness of the robots must be achieved, i.e., the robots’ capabilities shall be sufficiently advance that they can perform tasks well amongst, and in interaction with people. Second, the robots should be able to be used across a range of care-related tasks, particularly if their cost is to be justified by public or private sector investments. At the same time, their costs should be affordable enough for early adopters. Further, the legal landscape must allow for such adoption, beyond the robots merely complying with the safety- or privacy standards. Finally, the existing healthcare infrastructures, services and practices should be able to accommodate this type of WT and actor.

In this workshop, we wish to invite designers, roboticists, engineers, sociologists, philosophers, healthcare professionals, and other practitioners, to a trans-, inter- and/or cross-disciplinary structured dialogue around when and where, in which contexts or scenarios, and which types of robots would fit as WT and actors, with the ultimate aim to contribute to design explorations of a future model (or framework) that could support a meaningful adoption and integration of robots in the future home- and healthcare services and practices, when this will be appropriate. The workshop is part of the Robots as Welfare Technologies and Actors (ROBOWELL) [6].

Some of the questions that we wish to explore during the workshop through a structured dialogue, using the Story Dialogue Method (SDM) [7] are, but these are not limited to:

1) How can design explorations inform us about to what extent these robots can be integrated as part of the home environment and healthcare services?

2) Which current available and future WRs have the potential to be integrated into care services and practices, based on their design attributes and capabilities, and why?

3) How would these WRs as actors design (and capabilities) potentially contribute or challenge the available care infrastructure, services and/or practices – and in which ways?

4) In which use-case scenarios or contexts would WRs be appropriate, meaningful and desirable to be part of these services and practices – and why?

5) And ultimately, how to co-design a future model (or framework) for the responsible integration of WR (as actors) in home- and healthcare services that takes into account both the WRs different design attributes (and capabilities), various use-case scenarios, but also the different stakeholders involved in interacting with a such robot – what are the opportunities and challenges, and how would a such model look like?

Method

The workshop’s research questions will be explored through a co-design method, where participants’ stories and reflections are used as a starting point in designing a model for integration of WR in future home and health care. Previous research [8] proposed using the Dialogue Flower model to facilitate dialogues based workshops, others have used metaphorical design techniques [9], while others have used eclectic approaches adopting various design methods [10] to promote participation and engagement. We propose using SDM [7] [11], a both data collection and analysis method, that enables a structured dialogue. By using this method, the attendees will be able to reflect on WRs (including socially assistive robots, humanoid robots, robots for physical assistance), scenarios for robot-mediated activities, and contexts on integration of robots within home and healthcare, in a structured manner, while also documenting the process. The attendees, while attending the workshop, will also learn the SDM method, which earlier has been used mainly in the education and healthcare domain [7], and more recently within HCI and HRI [12], [13], [14].

WHY participating in the workshop? (Benefits)

The benefits of participating in the workshop include learning the SDM method, as an inclusive and participatory method, but also to exchanging and sharing knowledge, while also co-creating new insights on how we can transfer robots from laboratory experiments into real-world adoption - when and if this is appropriate. The attendees will benefit from trans- and/or cross-disciplinary structured dialogue within the topics addressed in the workshop. In addition, we also aim to invite special guests from design, and/or human-robot interaction, and/or healthcare, and/or engineering fields that have a relevant background for the workshop, and who potentially can contribute to advancing further the discussions during the structured dialogue, participate in the panel debate, and to attract more participants to the workshop. Up to three relevant special guests will be invited to the workshop, upon the acceptance of the workshop.

Relevance of the ROBOWELL workshop for the conference theme, and for the attendees

ROBOWELL workshop addresses the tensions between the fast development of various technologies, such as WRs, and their adoption and integration within a slower paced tradition, such as healthcare – a discipline and practice where laws, standards, certifications, and infrastructures are needed to be in place for robots as products and medical devices to enable their integration into services and practices. Thus, these tensions between the fast-paced environment of technology development and slower paced care ecosystem, holds us Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI) designers, sociologists, engineers, roboticists, philosophers, and healthcare workers within the pulse - exploring the energy that drives us - the NordiCHI’26 theme. Further, the attendees will benefit from exploring potential design futures, and contributing to co-designing a model on how home- and healthcare services could or should be designed when robots will be adopted and integrated into those. They will also be introduced to the SDM method.

For WHOM is it?

The workshop aims to attract between 10-25 participants, and up to three special guests (established senior researchers) to contribute to elevating the scientific and practical-oriented discussions during the workshop, and at the end of the workshop through a panel debate.

Participants from different fields and sectors are encouraged to attend the workshop, representing different disciplines (design, engineering, healthcare, philosophy, robotics, sociology etc.). We encourage academics, but also practitioners, or stakeholders from public or private sector to attend the workshop.

Submissions (pre-workshop engagement)

The attendees are required to submit a 1-2 pages short story or reflection (free format) about integration of welfare robot in home- and healthcare that addresses the workshop’s research questions described in the Introduction.

Deadline: 1st of September 2026, 23.59.

Send your submission to robowell-core@ifi.uio.no.

Workshop format and activities

Part I (15 minutes):

Introduction round, followed by a short introduction to the method and division of participants in groups of 3 to 5 people.

Part II - Main part (165 minutes)

design explorations and co-design through a systematic structured dialogue, using Story Dialogue Method

Coffee break (30 minutes);

PART II - Continuation

lessons learned from the workshop
discussion in plenum about co-designing a model for welfare robots integration in home- and healthcare services (and practices)

Part III - Panel debate by special guests (30 minutes)

Aims to elevate the initial discussion, by prioritizing the most important lessons learned from the workshop, while also showing the future pathways
Closure

Post-workshop engagement

Those who wish to participate in writing a common paper based on the workshop, will be invited to do so.

The venue and format to be decided.

Organizers

Diana Saplacan Lindblom, Ph.D., is a researcher at the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Research Group, Univ. of Oslo, Norway, and an Assoc. Prof. (Docent) at the Digital Design Department, Design A* Research Collab. Research Group, Kristianstad Univ., Sweden. She is the PI of the ROBOWELL research project. Vulnerabilities in Robot Society, Ethical Risk Assessment of AI in Practice, Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion, Multimodal Elderly Care Systems, and Universal Design of Robots are a few of other previous or ongoing projects she has been a research, partner, or Co-PI within. Her research covers HRI studies, often outside of the lab in real-world environments.

Sanna Kuoppamäki, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Technology in Health Care, and a Docent in Technology and Health at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. She is a co-PI of the ROBOWELL project, with long-standing research experience on conversational care robots from the user-centered perspective. Additionally, she is a PI for other externally funded projects, such as ‘Enhancing older adults’ physical activity through inclusive design of wearable sensor devices’ (Age-Wear, Kamprad Family Foundation), and ‘AI-driven platform care: Promoting equal and inclusive job quality in long-term care’ (CareQuAI, JPI/MYBL). Her research focuses on the relations between ageing, care and technology at the intersection of HRI and HCI.

Leon Bodenhagen is an Associate Professor at SDU Robotics, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, where he leads the Welfare Robotics research group. His research focuses on human-robot interaction within shared environments, such as hospitals and retail spaces. He leads several national and international initiatives - including the Trans-Belt Medical Robotics Cluster - utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to develop socially acceptable robot behaviors that facilitate the seamless integration of technology into healthcare and care home settings

Jim Torresen is a (Full) Professor at the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Research Group at Dep. Of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway. His research interests now include artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, ethical aspects of AI and robotics, and applying this to complex real-world application. He is or has been the PI or Co-PI in multiple research projects: Multimodal Elderly Care Systems, Vulnerability in Robot Societies, Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion, and Robots as Welfare Technologies and Actors in Elderly Care, to name a few.

Acknowledgements

This work is partly supported by NordForsk through the project Robots as Welfare Technologies and Actors for Elderly Care: A Nordic Model for Integration of Advanced Assistive Technologies (project no. 226198), and by the Novo Nordic Foundation (Novo Nordisk Fonden). This work is also partially supported by the Research Council of Norway as part of the Vulnerability in the Robot Society (VIROS) project (grant no. 288285), the Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion (PIRC) project (grant no. 312333), and through the Centres of Excellence scheme, RITMO (project no. 262762).

References

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The workshop is organized in affiliation with:

The workshop is also additionally associated with:

Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

RITMO Centre of Excellence, University of Oslo, Norway

Department of Design, Kristianstad University, Sweden

Funding agencies:

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