Stakeholders’ Experiences of and Expectations for Robot Accents in a Dental Care Simulation: A Finland-Swedish Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative case study where dental professionals’ and care clients’ experiences of and expectations for robot accent are explored. Our research focuses on humanoid, social, co-located robots advising clients in standard Sweden-Swedish on preventive dental selfcare. As steps in a two-year co-creation project, we performed interviews within the linguistic context of Finland’s minority Finland-Swedish population. Our aim was to explore stakeholders’ experiences of and expectations for robot accents in a care context. Thematic analysis revealed six main themes: Expressions, benefits, and barriers to robot accent as conveyor of message, robot accents as support, and as disturbance, and lastly legitimacy of robot accents. The paper demonstrates the central role of robot accent in experiences of HRI in a Finland-Swedish setting, manifestations of in- and out-groupness, and the multifaceted expectations for robot accent recognition and speech.