Making Sense of Robots in Public Spaces: A Study of Trash Barrel Robots

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bu, Fanjun, Fischer, Kerstin, Ju, Wendy
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908295785086976
author Bu, Fanjun
Fischer, Kerstin
Ju, Wendy
author_facet Bu, Fanjun
Fischer, Kerstin
Ju, Wendy
contents In this work, we analyze video data and interviews from a public deployment of two trash barrel robots in a large public space to better understand the sensemaking activities people perform when they encounter robots in public spaces. Based on an analysis of 274 human-robot interactions and interviews with N=65 individuals or groups, we discovered that people were responding not only to the robots or their behavior, but also to the general idea of deploying robots as trashcans, and the larger social implications of that idea. They wanted to understand details about the deployment because having that knowledge would change how they interact with the robot. Based on our data and analysis, we have provided implications for design that may be topics for future human-robot design researchers who are exploring robots for public space deployment. Furthermore, our work offers a practical example of analyzing field data to make sense of robots in public spaces.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_01121
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Making Sense of Robots in Public Spaces: A Study of Trash Barrel Robots
Bu, Fanjun
Fischer, Kerstin
Ju, Wendy
Robotics
Human-Computer Interaction
In this work, we analyze video data and interviews from a public deployment of two trash barrel robots in a large public space to better understand the sensemaking activities people perform when they encounter robots in public spaces. Based on an analysis of 274 human-robot interactions and interviews with N=65 individuals or groups, we discovered that people were responding not only to the robots or their behavior, but also to the general idea of deploying robots as trashcans, and the larger social implications of that idea. They wanted to understand details about the deployment because having that knowledge would change how they interact with the robot. Based on our data and analysis, we have provided implications for design that may be topics for future human-robot design researchers who are exploring robots for public space deployment. Furthermore, our work offers a practical example of analyzing field data to make sense of robots in public spaces.
title Making Sense of Robots in Public Spaces: A Study of Trash Barrel Robots
topic Robotics
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01121