User Acceptance of a Home Robotic Assistant for Individuals With Physical Disabilities: Explorative Qualitative Study

Background: Health care is shifting toward 5 proactive approaches: personalized, participatory, preventive, predictive, and precision-focused services (P5 medicine). This patient-centered care leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots, which can personalize and enhance services for users with disabilities. These advancements are crucial given the World Health Organization's projection of a global shortage of up to 10 million health care workers by 2030.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the acceptance of a humanoid assistive robot among users with physical disabilities during (1) AI-powered (using a Wizard of Oz methodology) robotic performance of predefined personalized assistance tasks and (2) operator-controlled robotic performance (simulated distant service).

Methods: An explorative qualitative design was used, involving user testing in a simulated home environment and individual interviews. Directed content analysis was based on the Almere model and the model of domestic social robot acceptance.

Results: Nine participants with physical disabilities aged 27 to 78 years engaged in robot interactions. They shared their perceptions across 7 acceptance concepts: hedonic attitudes, utilitarian attitudes, personal norms, social norms, control beliefs, facilitating conditions, and intention to use. Participants valued the robot's usefulness for practical services but not for personal care. They preferred automation but accepted remote control of the robot for some tasks. Privacy concerns were mixed.

Conclusions: This study highlights the complex interplay of functional expectations, technological readiness, and personal and societal norms affecting the acceptance of physically assistive robots. Participants were generally positive about robotic assistance as it increases independence and lessens the need for human caregivers, although they acknowledged some current shortcomings. They were open to trying more home testing if future robots could perform most tasks autonomously. AI-powered robots offer new possibilities for creating more adaptable and personalized assistive technologies, potentially enhancing their effectiveness and viability for individuals with disabilities.