Living with a robot at home: the complexity of living with assistive robots in everyday life

The growing use of assistive robots in aging care raises important questions about how these technologies are experienced and integrated into everyday life. This study explores the use of two assistive robots, a telepresence robot (Double) in long-term care homes in Canada and a delivery robot (Labrador) in community-based settings in the United States, drawing on insights from two qualitative studies.

Guided by Actor-Network Theory and domestication theory as sensitizing frameworks, we examine how robots are understood, used, and negotiated within the daily lives of older adults, family caregivers, service providers, and care staff. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations, and team-based critical reflection sessions involving researchers from both projects. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to interpret experiences across both studies.

Three themes were identified: (1) robots as relational agents shaped by socio-material networks, (2) configuring human-robot relationships in everyday contexts, and (3) ethical and practical tensions related to implementation and withdrawal. Findings suggest that the integration of robots into care is not a linear process but involves ongoing negotiation among users, technologies, and environments. Rather than replacing human care, robots can mediate and transform relationships, enabling new forms of connection and support. At the same time, their use raises critical ethical considerations, particularly regarding sustainability, dependency, and equity.

By applying theoretical lenses to empirical cases, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of assistive robots as embedded in complex social and material practices, with implications for future research, design, and implementation in aging care.