Design for Acceptability: Improving Robots' Coexistence in Human Society

This paper is about design and acceptability of service robots that interact with individuals and coexist in environments inhabited by humans. In its current usage, we argue, the term acceptability is user-specific or user-centred, that is, it is based exclusively on the study of the relationships between a product and its users. In this paper, we argue that resistance towards service robots operating in public environments may also originate from properties which are not related to the user. For example, fear of the robot may generate resistance at the bystander level; lack of legal regulations for robots' deployment may generate resistance at the legal level; concerns about possible job reductions caused by the robot may generate resistance at the worker level. Therefore, it is necessary to go beyond the user-centred notion of acceptability and widen its scope so as to include any kind of potential resistance and not just those originating from the users. By adopting a broader view of the possible critical factors affecting service robots' acceptability, it will be possible to design robots that are good for users and acceptable to other people and society.