When robots are built-in into family areas and rituals, they purchase emotional worth

Social companion robots are now not simply science fiction. In school rooms, libraries and houses, these small machines are designed to learn tales, play video games or supply consolation to kids. They promise to help studying and companionship, but their position in household life usually extends past their authentic goal.

In our current research of households in Canada and the US, we discovered that even after a kids’s studying robotic “retired” or was now not in energetic and common use, most households selected to maintain it—treating it much less like a gadget and extra like a member of the household.

Luka is a small, owl-shaped studying robotic, designed to scan and browse image books aloud, making storytime extra partaking for younger kids.

In 2021, my colleague Rhonda McEwen and I got down to discover how 20 households used Luka. We wished to review not simply how households used Luka initially, however how that relationship was constructed and maintained over time, and what Luka got here to imply within the family. Our earlier work laid the inspiration for this by displaying how households used Luka in each day life and the way the bond grew over the primary months of use.

Once we returned in 2025 to comply with up with 19 of these households, we have been stunned by what we discovered. Eighteen households had chosen to maintain Luka, though its studying perform was now not helpful to their now-older kids. The robotic lingered not as a result of it labored higher than earlier than, however as a result of it had develop into significant.

A deep, emotional connection

Kids usually spoke about Luka in affectionate, human-like phrases. One referred to as it “my little brother.” One other described it as their “solely pet.” These weren’t simply throwaway remarks—they mirrored the deep emotional place the robotic had taken of their on a regular basis lives.

As a result of Luka had been current throughout essential household rituals like bedtime studying, kids remembered it as a companion.

Mother and father shared related emotions. A number of defined that Luka felt like “a part of our historical past.” For them, the robotic had develop into a logo of their kids’s early years, one thing they may not think about discarding. One household even held a small “retirement ceremony” earlier than passing Luka on to a youthful cousin, acknowledging its position of their family.

Different households discovered new, sensible makes use of. Luka was repurposed as a music participant, an evening mild or a show merchandise on a bookshelf subsequent to different keepsakes. Mother and father admitted they continued to cost it as a result of it felt like “taking good care of” the robotic.

The machine had lengthy outlived its authentic goal, but households discovered methods to combine it into each day routines.

‘Domesticating’ applied sciences

The way in which individuals handled Luka challenges how we often take into consideration know-how, which is that devices are disposable. A brand new cellphone replaces an outdated one, toys break and get thrown away and laptops find yourself in e-waste bins. However when applied sciences enter household life, particularly round emotionally vital moments like storytime, they’ll develop into a part of the family in lasting methods.

Our analysis findings even have essential implications for design. Ought to robots include an end-of-life plan that acknowledges their emotional worth? Ought to corporations design with the expectation that some merchandise will likely be cherished and repurposed, not simply discarded and changed?

There are environmental dimensions, too. If households maintain on to robots due to attachment, fewer could find yourself in landfills; this complicates how we take into consideration sustainability and recycling when gadgets are handled extra like keepsakes than instruments that will outlive their usefulness.

Students who research human-computer interplay usually use the time period “domestication” to explain how applied sciences develop into embedded in on a regular basis routines and meanings.

Greater than machines

Our research extends that concept to what occurs when know-how retires. Luka was now not helpful within the typical sense, however households nonetheless made area for it emotionally, symbolically and virtually.

Many people maintain objects for sentimental causes, lengthy after they’ve served their authentic goal. Luka reveals us that robots can develop into greater than machines.

Know-how is usually framed as fast-moving and disposable. However typically, as these households revealed, it lingers. A retired robotic can keep within the family as a result of it issues.

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