Designing Robots to Laugh at

This paper proposes a new theoretical direction in the design of assistive, functional robots, by leveraging play theory. Our vision is that a playful perspective will lead to the creation of assistive robots that could better address the emotional and interactional nuances of care practice, embodying values of humor and creativity, while appearing non-intimidating to people affected by dementia. Therefore, we propose to reconceptualize assistive robots for care homes as functional toys; humble and amusing objects that are easy to play with or laugh at.