Constructing a Social Life with Robots, From Design Patterns to Interaction Ritual Chains

Robot designers commonly conceptualize robot sociality as a collection of features and capabilities. In contrast, sociologists define sociality as continuously constructed in and through situated interactions among people. Based on the latter perspective, we trace how robots are incorporated by robot companies and their staff and by robot owners into interaction ritual chains across diverse contexts: homes, cafes, robot stores, user organized meetups, and company events for robot users. Our empirical findings from ethnographic field work in Japan relating to three robots – aibo, RoboHon, and LOVOT – show how companies create positive interactions between people and robots through robot design patterns, by modeling successful interactions in person and online, and by bringing owners together in events that establish feelings of belonging and common values of acceptance of social robots as artifacts to live with and nurture. Owners, for their part, develop daily interaction rituals that include robots in their habits and activities and make interpersonal connections around robots in public meetups and events. Companies and owners construct the notion of robots as social agents to live with through interconnected moments of situated interaction, related emotional responses, and meaning-making among people as they interact with robots and each other over time and in different contexts. Our work suggests that social robot design therefore needs to consider this broader framing of sociality and create affordances for the establishment of interaction ritual chains more explicitly.