A Qualitative Study on Co-designing a Domestic Robot with Senior People: Attitudinal Differences Among the Profiles of Boomers and the Silent Generation

Integrating domestic robots into the lives of older adults reflects a possible solution to provide adequate caregiving to an increasingly ageing population. Still, it is unclear how older adults perceive domestic robots and whether they are willing to adopt them into their homes. This paper analyses the attitudes of older adults towards domestic robots by proving the results of a qualitative study conducted during an experience of co-designing a robotic prototype, addressing 30 community-dwelling over-65s who are residents in Genoa, Italy. Our results show how attitudes toward the robot differ both due to individual and structural characteristics, but especially owing to generational and cultural factors, particularly between younger-old baby Boomers and older- old respondents. In conclusion, our study provides interesting suggestions for designers and engineers to consider generational differences as predictive factors of acceptance of domestic robots by senior end-users.