This paper emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in exploring the concept of robot gender within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). It draws on a case study of the authors' own collaboration, where interdisciplinary discussions on the nature of gender informed the design of a multimethod study. This approach allowed us to avoid assigning a binary gender to Pepper robot, while still encouraging participants to reflect on their own gendering practices during interactions with robots. Additionally, we invite readers to consider alternative ways of conceptualizing robot gender in HRI—specifically, as fluid and performative rather than binary, which relies on stereotypical cues. After describing how our discussions on gender influenced and reshaped the study design, we offer practical advice on fostering interdisciplinary collaborations. These suggestions focus on communication strategies, mindset, and the practical setup of collaborative studies. We hope that these recommendations will inspire other researchers to continue exploring new and interdisciplinary ways of approaching robot gender in HRI.

In Sweden, a particular class of technology is imagined as a solution to an ageing population. “Welfare technology” is used in politics and policy documents to describe technology aiming to improve welfare through increased safety, activity, participation, and independence for those with (or who risk developing) disabilities. The thesis focuses on welfare technology in elder care where it is used to, for example, administer medicine, watch over people when they sleep, and provide company through touch and conversation. The development and implementation of welfare technology is explored in two contexts: municipal care organizations and robotics research. The thesis analyzes the sociotechnical and robotic imaginaries informing the development and implementation of welfare technology and how they are materialized in the decision-making practices of municipal care organizations and robotics research. It also analyzes how ideals and practices of care and care work are renegotiated through the development and implementation of welfare technology, and what this implies for the organization and valuation of elder care in Sweden. The analysis shows tensions between how different actors imagine the promises of welfare technology, and between imaginaries of welfare technology for elder care and the characteristics and limitations of the organizations and technologies they rely on to materialize. It also points to how the development and implementation of welfare technology renegotiates ideals and practices of care away from an emphasis on human contact toward independent and remote care, mobilizing a fragmenting logic where elder care is explored for potentially delegable tasks. Finally, the thesis argues that discussions on how to maintain elder care provision in light of an ageing population cannot zoom in on welfare technology but need to make elder care a priority in more ways than as an opportunity for innovation.

I Sverige föreställs en typ av teknik som lösningen till en åldrande befolkning. ”Välfärdsteknik” är ett begrepp som används i policydokument för att besk-riva digital teknik som syftar till att bibehålla eller öka trygghet, aktivitet, delaktighet eller självständighet för en person som har eller löper förhöjd risk att få en funktionsnedsättning (Socialstyrelsens definition). Jag har studerat utvecklingen och implementeringen av välfärdsteknik i två sammanhang: genom kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer med beslutsfattare i kommuner och genom en etnografisk studie av utvecklingen av en samtalsrobot för vård- och omsorgsboenden. I fokus för avhandlingen är de sociotekniska och ”robotiska” föreställningar som informerar utvecklingen och implementeringen av välfärdsteknik i dessa organisationer. Jag fokuserar på hur dessa föreställningar omsätts i praktik: hur de ”materialiseras” i beslutsfattande i kommunala vård- och omsorgsorganisationer och robotutveckling i forskningssammanhang. Vidare analyserar jag hur vård- och omsorgsideal och praktiker inom vård- och omsorgsarbete omförhandlas genom utvecklingen och implementeringen av välfärdsteknik, och vad detta har för betydelse för hur äldreomsorgen organiseras och värderas i Sverige. Analysen visar på spänningar mellan hur olika aktörer föreställer sig välfärdsteknikens löften och syfte. Det finns också motsättningar mellan sådana föreställningar och begränsningar hos de organisationer och den teknik som förväntas förverkliga välfärdsteknikens löften. Analysen visar även hur utvecklingen och implementeringen av välfärds-teknik omförhandlar vård- och omsorgsideal och praktiker bort från att ett fokus på mänsklig kontakt mot ideal som berör självständighet och vård på distans. En fragmenterande logik möjliggör denna omförhandling, inom vilken äldreomsorgen genomsöks efter uppgifter som kan delegeras. Slutligen argumenterar avhandlingen för att diskussioner om hur äldreomsorgen ska upprätthållas för en åldrande befolkning inte kan fastna vid välfärdsteknik, utan behöver värdera äldreomsorgen på fler sätt än som en spelplan för innovation.

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is inherently a human-centric field of technology. The role of feminist theories in related fields (e.g. Human-Computer Interaction, Data Science) are taken as a starting point to present a vision for Feminist HRI which can support better, more ethical HRI practice everyday, as well as a more activist research and design stance. We first define feminist design for an HRI audience and use a set of feminist principles from neighboring fields to examine existent HRI literature, showing the progress that has been made already alongside some additional potential ways forward. Following this we identify a set of reflexive questions to be posed throughout the HRI design, research and development pipeline, encouraging a sensitivity to power and to individuals' goals and values. Importantly, we do not look to present a definitive, fixed notion of Feminist HRI, but rather demonstrate the ways in which bringing feminist principles to our field can lead to better, more ethical HRI, and to discuss how we, the HRI community, might do this in practice.

In response to demographic shifts contributing to an older population, limited health and social care budgets and staff shortages in institutionalised care for older adults, caring robots are increasingly imagined as potential caregivers for older adults. During the past 20 years, several initiatives have sought to design, develop, and deploy robots in care environments, focusing on robots assisting with, for example, physical and cognitive training, or providing social companionship. In this workshop we want to focus on the concept of care in the development and use of care robots for older adults. We are interested in: What different understandings of care are at play in care robotics for older adults, which practical implementation factors are there (such as infrastructure, WIFI, staff digital health literacy, investment potential), and how are care robots perceived by different key stakeholders (such as older adults, care staff, family, municipalities/care companies). We want to encourage critical reflection around these questions and invite creative ideas for how to design care robots for older adults.  

The aim of this half-day workshop is to provide a forum to share and learn about recent research and experiences with care robotics for older adults. The workshop will be a hybrid event.

We welcome participants to submit abstracts, of 1-2 pages, excluding references, covering any topic that could contribute to the discussion around care in the context of care robots. We welcome also ongoing work. Possible topics welcomed for this workshop include, but are not limited to:

• Theoretical approaches that help problematise care in care for older adults 
• Empirical studies of the use of care robots  
• Norm critical design approaches to care robots
• Technical solutions & designs for enhancing care of older adults
• Discussions of societal, political & ethical implications of care robots for older adults
• Engagement of key stakeholders and navigation of conflicting needs when implementing care robots
• How to go from a lab environment to studies in the wild to actual products considering e.g., social and technical failures, different stakeholders, nurse workload 

In response to demographic shifts contributing to an older population, limited health and social care budgets and staff shortages in institutionalised care for older adults, caring robots are increasingly imagined as potential caregivers for older adults. During the past 20 years, several initiatives have sought to design, develop, and deploy robots in care environments, focusing on robots assisting with, for example, physical and cognitive training, or providing social companionship. In this workshop we want focus on the concept of care in the development and use of care robots for older adults. We are interested in: What different understandings of care are at play in care robotics for older adults, how do ideas of 'good care' differ between different contexts and stakeholders, and who are the envisioned recipients of robotic care? We want to encourage critical reflection around these questions and invite creative ideas for how to design care robots for older adults.

This article looks at the implications of emotion recognition, zooming in on the specific case of the care robot Pepper introduced at a hospital in Toronto. Here, emotion recognition comes with the promise of equipping robots with a less tangible, more emotive set of skills – from companionship to encouragement. Through close analysis of a variety of materials related to emotion detection software – iMotions – we look into two aspects of the technology. First, we investigate the how of emotion detection: what does it mean to detect emotions in practice? Second, we reflect on the question of whose emotions are measured, and what the use of care robots can say about the norms and values shaping care practices today. We argue that care robots and emotion detection can be understood as part of a fragmentation of care work: a process in which care is increasingly being understood as a series of discrete tasks rather than as holistic practice. Finally, we draw attention to the multitude of actors whose needs are addressed by Pepper, even while it is being imagined as a care provider for patients.