Faulty Coffees: Barriers to Adoption of an In-the-wild Robo-Barista

Bruce Wilson; David Robb; Mei Yii Lim; Helen Hastie; Matthew Aylett; Theo Georgiou

doi:10.48550/arXiv.2603.16336

Faulty Coffees: Barriers to Adoption of an In-the-wild Robo-Barista

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

We set out to study whether task-based narratives could influence long-term engagement with a service robot. To do so, we deployed a Robo-Barista for five weeks in an over-50s housing complex in Stockton, England. Residents received a free daily coffee by interacting with a Furhat robot assigned to either a narrative or nonnarrative dialogue condition. Despite designing for sustained engagement, repeat interaction was low, and we encountered curiosity trials without retention, technical breakdowns, accessibility barriers, and the social dynamics of a housing complex setting. Rather than treating these as peripheral issues, we foreground them in this paper. We reflect on the in-the-wild realities of our experiment and offer lessons for conducting longitudinal Human-Robot Interaction research when studies unravel in practice.

Original language	English
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.16336
Publication status	Published - 17 Mar 2026
Event	Failing Forward Workshop at HRI 2026: Design and Deployment Lessons from Real-World Human–Robot Interaction - Edinburgh, United Kingdom Duration: 16 Mar 2026 → 16 Mar 2026 https://sites.google.com/monash.edu/failfowardhri2026

Workshop

Workshop	Failing Forward Workshop at HRI 2026
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Edinburgh
Period	16/03/26 → 16/03/26
Internet address	https://sites.google.com/monash.edu/failfowardhri2026

Keywords

Social agents
marrative
in-the-wild
barriers

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title = "Faulty Coffees: Barriers to Adoption of an In-the-wild Robo-Barista",

abstract = "We set out to study whether task-based narratives could influence long-term engagement with a service robot. To do so, we deployed a Robo-Barista for five weeks in an over-50s housing complex in Stockton, England. Residents received a free daily coffee by interacting with a Furhat robot assigned to either a narrative or nonnarrative dialogue condition. Despite designing for sustained engagement, repeat interaction was low, and we encountered curiosity trials without retention, technical breakdowns, accessibility barriers, and the social dynamics of a housing complex setting. Rather than treating these as peripheral issues, we foreground them in this paper. We reflect on the in-the-wild realities of our experiment and offer lessons for conducting longitudinal Human-Robot Interaction research when studies unravel in practice.",

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author = "Bruce Wilson and David Robb and Lim, \{Mei Yii\} and Helen Hastie and Matthew Aylett and Theo Georgiou",

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AU - Wilson, Bruce

AU - Robb, David

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AU - Hastie, Helen

AU - Aylett, Matthew

AU - Georgiou, Theo

PY - 2026/3/17

Y1 - 2026/3/17

N2 - We set out to study whether task-based narratives could influence long-term engagement with a service robot. To do so, we deployed a Robo-Barista for five weeks in an over-50s housing complex in Stockton, England. Residents received a free daily coffee by interacting with a Furhat robot assigned to either a narrative or nonnarrative dialogue condition. Despite designing for sustained engagement, repeat interaction was low, and we encountered curiosity trials without retention, technical breakdowns, accessibility barriers, and the social dynamics of a housing complex setting. Rather than treating these as peripheral issues, we foreground them in this paper. We reflect on the in-the-wild realities of our experiment and offer lessons for conducting longitudinal Human-Robot Interaction research when studies unravel in practice.

AB - We set out to study whether task-based narratives could influence long-term engagement with a service robot. To do so, we deployed a Robo-Barista for five weeks in an over-50s housing complex in Stockton, England. Residents received a free daily coffee by interacting with a Furhat robot assigned to either a narrative or nonnarrative dialogue condition. Despite designing for sustained engagement, repeat interaction was low, and we encountered curiosity trials without retention, technical breakdowns, accessibility barriers, and the social dynamics of a housing complex setting. Rather than treating these as peripheral issues, we foreground them in this paper. We reflect on the in-the-wild realities of our experiment and offer lessons for conducting longitudinal Human-Robot Interaction research when studies unravel in practice.

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KW - barriers

U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.2603.16336

DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2603.16336

M3 - Paper

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Y2 - 16 March 2026 through 16 March 2026

ER -

Faulty Coffees: Barriers to Adoption of an In-the-wild Robo-Barista

Abstract

Workshop

Keywords

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