ABSTRACT
Given the media attention, a lot is being expected of the home robot. During the past few years, popular magazines and newspapers have regularly reported on new robotics applications for domestic use. Headlines such as “A Robot in Every Home” (Gates, 2007), “Get Ready to Be Pampered by Household Robots in Next Decade,”* “Now, a Technology-Laden Robot That Does All the Household Work,”† “Are You Ready for Your First Home Robot?,”‡ “A Social Robot for Every Household?,”§ “Forget Babysitters: Nanny Bot Takes Care of Your Family,”¶ “Hooray for House,”** and “He Laughs, Learns, and Has Impeccable Manners. Oh, and He’s a Robot”†† suggest that the robots have started their march and will appear on a large scale in the home.
