Robot-Assisted Social Dining as a White Glove Service

Paper Title

Robot-Assisted Social Dining as a White Glove Service

Publication Info

• Topic area: Assistive robotics for social dining contexts
• Keywords: Robot-assisted feeding, social dining, participatory design, speculative design, assistive technology, multimodal interaction, contextual awareness, human-robot interaction, disability inclusion, white glove service

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing robot-assisted feeding systems have been tested mainly in controlled environments (labs or homes) and focus on solitary dining. There is a lack of understanding of how such systems can support people with disabilities (PwD) in dynamic, unsupervised social dining settings like restaurants.
• Significance: Social dining is a deeply cultural and social activity, and PwD often face barriers that exclude them from these experiences. Addressing these challenges can enhance inclusion, independence, and dignity for PwD in public dining contexts.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research has explored robot-assisted feeding for solitary dining and some aspects of social dining, but gaps remain in understanding broader needs like contextual adaptation, group dynamics, and expanded roles of robots beyond feeding. This paper builds on these gaps by focusing on robot-assisted feeding in public social dining scenarios.

Solution

• Proposed approach: Speculative participatory design (PD) study using a custom AI-based storyboarding tool, Speak2Scene, to envision ideal robot-assisted social dining scenarios with PwD.
• Novelty:
  1. Introduces the concept of robot-assisted feeding as a "white glove service" emphasizing anticipatory, personalized, and unobtrusive assistance.
  2. Explores robot roles beyond feeding, including shared table practices, navigation, and payment assistance.
  3. Investigates multimodal and context-sensitive human-robot interaction in social dining settings.
  4. Examines the triad of user, robot, and dining companions, extending prior work focused on the user-robot dyad.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted speculative PD sessions with six PwD using Speak2Scene for storyboarding.
  • Participants created avatars, designed robot-assisted dining scenarios, and reflected on key moments of interaction.
  • Semi-structured interviews captured preferences for robot behavior, communication, and roles.
  • Reflexive thematic analysis identified themes related to interaction ecology, context-sensitive behavior, robot roles, and user-robot relationships.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Participants preferred multimodal user-to-robot communication (e.g., voice, tactile, neural interfaces) and minimal, unobtrusive robot feedback (e.g., lights, beeps).
  • Robots should support shared table practices (e.g., passing dishes, coordinating toasts) and exhibit social etiquette.
  • Contextual awareness is critical, including understanding table layouts, user fatigue, and dining phases.
  • Participants envisioned robots assisting with navigation, payment, and other non-feeding tasks.
  • Diverse preferences for robot appearance and personality highlight the need for adaptable designs.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • Extends prior work by addressing group dynamics, shared activities, and expanded robot roles in social dining.
  • Highlights anticipatory and context-sensitive assistance, moving beyond solitary feeding scenarios.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Six PwD participated in 75–90 minute speculative PD sessions.
  • Insights were derived from thematic analysis of interviews and storyboards created using Speak2Scene.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Small, demographically homogeneous sample (primarily white and female participants from the U.S.).
  • Sessions were lengthy, potentially causing participant fatigue.
  • Future work should include more diverse participants, secondary users (e.g., caregivers, restaurant staff), and explore visual storyboard analysis.

Summary

This study explores robot-assisted social dining for PwD through speculative participatory design, introducing the concept of "white glove service" to emphasize anticipatory, personalized, and unobtrusive assistance. Key findings highlight the importance of multimodal communication, context-sensitive behavior, and expanded robot roles beyond feeding, such as navigation and payment. The study also underscores the need for adaptable robot designs to accommodate diverse user preferences. These insights provide a foundation for developing socially embedded, inclusive robot-assisted dining systems that enhance independence and dignity for PwD in public dining contexts.