Study Reveals Acceptance of Automatic Vacuum Cleaners

Robotic vacuum cleaners are amongst the first autonomous devices that are being used to automate domestic cleaning chores. Scientists at EPFL have conducted a study to find out the influence that such domestic robots have on the daily routine of people and how it will change the future of these robots.

This topic is one of the core issues that EPFL-based National Center of Competence in Research is studying.

A team from the Pedagogical Research and Support ream (CRAFT) had conducted a study in 2011 on household robots. They conducted the study on nine families having various combinations of members by giving all of them a domestic robot from one of the most common brands. These families were observed for a period of six months and their experience with the device was studied. The study was based on a total of seven criteria, which were practical and emotional. These criteria were put in place to judge the degree to which each family accepted the robot. These criteria will be helpful for the EPFL engineers and manufacturers to decide on the future of such robots. The study revealed that out of the nine families only three liked the automatic vacuum cleaner. The time taken by the families whether to accept or reject the robot was taken quickly. The points that the families put forward against the robot’s usage was that they had to modify the surroundings of their homes so that the robot is able to work easily. The fact that they had to make certain behavioural changes such as abstain from leaving things on the floor etc for easy operation of the cleaner also went against the robot. Another observation in the study was that the interest that children showed in the new gadget was short lived.