IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2019 - 66

initial session in the final session: "As I lose memory on certain things ... what keeps me going is the desire to remember myself ... be myself. I'm afraid that in my case, if I was
going to rely on a robot, I'd stop living. I'm afraid of losing
my autonomy" (P11).
The low-openness group was the only population to discuss a collective worry for society regarding the technology's
impact. For example, P11 says, "Don't set it up as a goal that
[the technology]'s going to save society and save the world. It
is just another change. And a dangerous change because it can
change everything" (P11).
In addition to worrying about the effect of the technology on society, participants in the low-openness group also
emphasized that they desired control of the technology
(P19, P11). P19 stated that she did not want to "be forced
into [the technology]," emphasizing, "if we accepted it and
were going with it and it would help us because we have
the right attitude toward it." Overall, participants became
more articulate about security and privacy concerns and
their fear of the technology while having a social robot in
their environment.
Residents grew empowered to voice their opinion on the
design of the social robot. In the initial sessions, 50% of
participants questioned social robot actions because they
could not conceptualize how the robot could perform the
function. In one example, P7 asked the researcher how a

robot could send a message and had difficulty imagining
that a human was not involved in the transmission. However, in the final session, these statements decreased to 8%, as
participants were more adept at explaining how they would
like the robot's function to be designed. Residents voiced
more confidence because of "[getting] more used to how to
ask, what to ask it" (P15) and "learning little by little what it
could do" (P7). Notably, in the final session, the role of the
robot expanded to more complex assignments, such as
teacher, friend, colleague, mediator, and motivator (P6, P2,
P3). P6 also described a situation where the robot could
help in situations with others, detailing how the robot could
help remind people how to respectfully enter someone's
apartment. Participants became more vocal in personifying
the agent and its desired functions.
The design theme was not present in the initial sessions.
In the final sessions, 42% of residents mentioned how they
would like the robot to be designed. Some stressed the
robot's size, features, and portability (P19, P2, P6). P2 and
P6 discussed how the design could be made more accessible, using methods other than just voice, so that privacy
could be ensured and the robot better employed by those
with "a verbal impediment" (P6). The participants' language advocating for design changes demonstrates how the
residents became empowered to vocalize their ideas for
technology development.

Table 3. The qualitative category proportions of how many people discussed each topic.
Category

Participant Group

Initial Interview (M ± SD)

Final Interview (M ± SD)

Technology concerns

Total

0.29 ± 0.19

0.33 ± 0.25

Low openness

0.11 ± 0.19

0.5 ± 0

Mid openness

0.11 ± 0.19

0.22 ± 0.19

High openness

0.17 ± 0.29

0.33 ± 0.42

Total

0.71 ± 0.26

0.64 ± 0

Low openness

0.67 ± 0.33

0.58 ± 0.38

Mid openness

0.67 ± 0.33

High openness

0.67 ± 0.57

0.67 ± 0.31

Total

0.47 ± 0.21

0.35 ± 0.21

Low openness

0.33 ± 0.27

0.43 ± 0.24

Mid openness

0.33 ± 0.27

0.17 ± 0.19

High openness

0.5 ± 0

0.4 ± 0.37

Total

0.50 ± 0.71

0.67 ± 0.35

Low openness

0.50 ± 0.71

0.75 ± 0.35

Mid openness

0.50 ± 0.71

0.67 ± 0.47

High openness

0.50 ± 0.71

0.60 ± 0.28

Total

0.44 ± 0.38

0.56 ± 0.38

Low openness

0.42 ± 0.42

0.56 ± 0.43

Mid openness

0.42 ± 0.42

0.67 ± 0.27

High openness

0.50 ± 0.58

0.65 ± 0.34

Relationship to technology

Limitations to technology and use

Imagining in daily life

Technology features

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

JUNE 2019

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2019