Editorial: Creative approaches to appropriation and design: novel robotic systems for heterogeneous contexts

Abstract

The discourse on robotic systems in care is shifting. While the debates have focused on the varying degrees of use of robotic systems in care, and whether or how the work of carers can be substituted by robots (Dalton-Brown, 2020), the focus is now on the practical implementation of robotic systems in care (Mahmoudi Asl et al., 2022). Concerns among carers about job losses due to replacement have diminished, while the demographic trends in Europe contributing to the shortage of staff and the growing number of people expected to need care have been highlighted (The Impact of Demographic Change in Europe - European Commission, 2023). In the future, the focus will be more on how to establish adequate human-technology interaction in the care sector and on the appropriation of technology by care staff and other stakeholders from a human-centered perspective (Paluch et al. 2022). Appropriation is a process in which technical artifacts are used and integrated into users’ specific contexts and practices, adapting them to their needs and reinterpreting their purpose beyond the original design intentions. In addition, appropriation is a creative and dynamic process that is mediated by context and emerges in collaboration with others. The objective is not to dictate technological solutions but to engage users that are actively using the technology, with the aim of facilitating mutual learning about how users adapt to technology and shaping its design to be meaningful and relevant to their needs. The focus is on long-term use and the creative and playful appropriation of technologies. Thus, this process is about working democratically to explore how the technologies best fit the context. This should create anchor points in people's lives that enable meaningful appropriation (Stevens & Pipek, 2018).With regard to robots for care settings, a socio-informatics perspective is particularly interesting, as it provides sensitizing concepts that enable the investigation of such questions in different practical contexts (Stevens et al., 2018). However, there is still a need to clarify the practicalities of using robots and how people in different care settings can appropriate them long-term (Carros et al., 2022; Paluch & Müller, 2022; Paluch et al. 2024). This question has been explored in several research projects, the findings of which are presented in this special issue. It became evident that a focus was placed on emotions in a multitude of research dimensions. Additionally, it was established that the entertainment value of a robot and its capacity to respond to humor are significant aspects (Oliveira et al., 2021). Interaction with robots can be challenging due to their potential unfamiliarity. In care settings, it can be helpful that robotic systems are developed with a participatory design element and that the robots are adapted to the specific local needs (Carros et al., 2020; Carros et al., 2023). If caregivers and care recipients are taken seriously in the development process, robotic systems can be designed that are used creatively to assist and enhance the wellbeing of those in need of care. Only then, we believe, an appropriation of the robotic systems is possible, which would otherwise be constrained by rigid usage requirements.Overall, we selected five papers for this special issue that take into account the multidisciplinary needs of developing such robotic systems and that observed the appropriation from the users of their devices:The article by Graf et al. entitled 'Distributed agency in HRI - an exploratory study of a narrative robot design' presents a plant watering robot. The study investigated how the robot's agency is experienced in different contexts, how this affects the attribution of the robot's behavior, and whether it increases the enjoyment of users. Appropriation processes were observed in situ, and particular attention was paid to people's reactions. The examples relate to a uni