Acceptability, Acceptance and Adoption of Telepresence Robots in Museums: The Museum Professionals' PerspectivesTelepresence robots have the potential to change our experiences in galleries and museums, allowing for a range of hybrid interactions for visitors and museum professionals, improving accessibility, offering activities or information, and providing a range of practical use cases (e.g. the robots augmenting museum exhibits). We present the results of 3 qualitative studies conducted in the UK exploring the acceptability (1 - interviews with museum professionals with no previous exposure to telepresence), acceptance (2 – focus groups for initial exposure to telepresence robots), and adoption (3 – interviews with museum professionals with long-term exposure to robots) of telepresence robots in museums. Our results identified opportunities and barriers focusing on the unique perspective of museum professionals and showed how priorities of museums shift and change according to their exposure to different technologies. We proposed a set of practical guidelines for future telepresence robots in museums, including design implications, potential applications, and integration strategies.2025HCHarriet R Cameron et al.University of Nottingham, Responsible Digital Futures Group, School of Computer Science; University of Nottingham, Mixed Reality Lab, School of Computer ScienceTeleoperation & TelepresenceMuseum & Cultural Heritage DigitizationCHI
Objection Overruled! Lay People can Distinguish Large Language Models from Lawyers, but still Favour Advice from an LLMLarge Language Models (LLMs) are seemingly infiltrating every domain, and the legal context is no exception. In this paper, we present the results of three experiments (total N = 288) that investigated lay people's willingness to act upon, and their ability to discriminate between, LLM- and lawyer-generated legal advice. In Experiment 1, participants judged their willingness to act on legal advice when the source of the advice was either known or unknown. When the advice source was unknown, participants indicated that they were significantly more willing to act on the LLM-generated advice. The result of the source unknown condition was replicated in Experiment 2. Intriguingly, despite participants indicating higher willingness to act on LLM-generated advice in Experiments 1 and 2, participants discriminated between the LLM- and lawyer-generated texts significantly above chance-level in Experiment 3. Lastly, we discuss potential explanations and risks of our findings, limitations and future work.2025ESEike Schneiders et al.University of Nottingham, School of Computer Science; University of Southampton, School of Electronics and Computer ScienceHuman-LLM CollaborationAI-Assisted Decision-Making & AutomationAI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityCHI
Designing Multispecies Worlds for Robots, Cats, and HumansWe reflect on the design of a multispecies world centred around a bespoke enclosure in which three cats and a robot arm coexist for six hours a day during a twelve-day installation as part of an artist-led project. In this paper, we present the project's design process, encompassing various interconnected components, including the cats, the robot and its autonomous systems, the custom end-effectors and robot attachments, the diverse roles of the humans-in-the-loop, and the custom-designed enclosure. Subsequently, we provide a detailed account of key moments during the deployment and discuss the design implications for future multispecies systems. Specifically, we argue that designing the technology and its interactions is not sufficient, but that it is equally important to consider the design of the `world' in which the technology operates. Finally, we highlight the necessity of human involvement in areas such as breakdown recovery, animal welfare, and their role as audience.2024ESEike Schneiders et al.University of NottinghamHuman-Robot Collaboration (HRC)Human-Nature Relationships (More-than-Human Design)CHI
Charting Ethical Tensions in Multispecies Technology Research through Beneficiary-Epistemology SpaceWhile ethical challenges are widely discussed in HCI, far less is reported about the ethical processes that researchers routinely navigate. We reflect on a multispecies project that negotiated an especially complex ethical approval process. Cat Royale was an artist-led exploration of creating an artwork to engage audiences in exploring trust in autonomous systems. The artwork took the form of a robot that played with three cats. Gaining ethical approval required an extensive dialogue with three Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) covering computer science, veterinary science and animal welfare, raising tensions around the welfare of the cats, perceived benefits and appropriate methods, and reputational risk to the University. To reveal these tensions we introduce beneficiary-epistemology space, that makes explicit who benefits from research (humans or animals) and underlying epistemologies. Positioning projects and IRBs in this space can help clarify tensions and highlight opportunities to recruit additional expertise.2024SBSteven David Benford et al.University of NottinghamTechnology Ethics & Critical HCIUser Research Methods (Interviews, Surveys, Observation)Human-Nature Relationships (More-than-Human Design)CHI
RoboClean: Contextual Language Grounding for Human-Robot Interactions in Specialised Low-Resource EnvironmentsBuilding effective voice interfaces for the instruction of service robots in specialised environments is difficult due to the local knowledge of workers, such as specific terminology for objects and space, leading to limited data to train language models (known as ‘low-resource’ domains) and challenges in language grounding. We present a language grounding study in which we a) elicit spoken natural language of context experts in situ through a Wizard of Oz study and compile a dataset, b) qualitatively examine linguistic properties of the resulting instructions to reveal referential categories and parameters employed to construct instructions in context. We discuss how our language grounding protocol may be applied to bootstrap a language model in its targeted use context. Our work contributes a linguistic understanding of robot instructions that can be applied by designers and researchers to develop spoken language understanding for human-robot interactions in specialised, low-resource environments.human-robot interaction, speech, conversational interfaces, lan- guage grounding, HRI, spoken language understanding, SLU2023CFCarolina Fuentes et al.Voice User Interface (VUI) DesignIntelligent Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri, etc.)Human-LLM CollaborationCUI
Chatbots as Advisers: the Effects of Response Variability and Reply Suggestion ButtonsAs chatbots gain popularity across a variety of applications, from investment to health, they employ an increasing number of features that can influence the perception of the system. Since chatbots often provide advice or guidance, we ask: do these aspects affect the user’s decision to follow their advice? We focus on two chatbot features that can influence user perception: 1) response variability in answers and delays and 2) reply suggestion buttons. We report on a between-subject study where participants made investment decisions on a simulated social trading platform by interacting with a chatbot providing advice. Performance-based study incentives made the consequences of following the advice tangible to participants. We measured how often and to what extent participants followed the chatbot’s advice compared to an alternative source of information. Results indicate that both response variability and reply suggestion buttons significantly increased the inclination to follow the advice of the chatbot.2023FMFederico Milana et al.Conversational ChatbotsAI-Assisted Decision-Making & AutomationCUI
"Being in on the Action" in Mobile Robotic Telepresence: Rethinking Presence in Hybrid ParticipationMobile Robotic Telepresence (MRP) systems afford remote communication with an embodied physicality and autonomous mobility, which is thought to be useful for creating a sense of presence in hybrid activities. In this paper, drawing on phenomenology, we interviewed seven long term users of MRP to understand the lived experience of participating in hybrid spaces through a telepresence robot. The users' accounts show how the capabilities of the robot impact interactions, and how telepresence differs from in-person presence. Whilst not feeling as if they were really there, users felt present when they were being able to participate in local action and be treated as present. They also report standing out and being subject to behaviour amounting to 'othering'. We argue that these experiences point to a need for future work on telepresence to focus on giving remote users the means to exercise autonomy in ways that enable them to participate --- to be 'in on the action' --- rather than in ways that simply simulate being in-person.2023ABAndriana Boudouraki et al.Teleoperation & TelepresenceTechnology Ethics & Critical HCIHRI
Mediated Visits: Longitudinal Domestic Dwelling with Mobile Robotic TelepresenceMobile Robotic Telepresence (MRP) systems are remotely controlled, mobile videoconferencing devices that allow the remote user to move independently and have a physical presence in the environment. This paper presents a longitudinal study of MRP use in the home, where the first author used an MRP to connect with family, her partner, and friends over a six-month period. Taking an ethnomethodological approach, we present video recorded fragments to explore the phenomenon of `visiting' where MRP users drop into the home for a period of time. We unpack the more `procedural' elements---arriving and departing---alongside ways of `dwelling' together during a visit, and the qualities of mobility, autonomous presence and spontaneity that emerge.2022ABAndriana Boudouraki et al.University of NottinghamSocial Robot InteractionTeleoperation & TelepresenceCHI
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Wizards of OzThe Wizard of Oz method is an increasingly common practice in HCI and CSCW studies as part of iterative design processes for interactive systems. Instead of designing a fully-fledged system, the `technical work' of key system components is completed by human operators yet presented to study participants as if computed by a machine. However, little is known about how Wizard of Oz studies are interactionally and collaboratively achieved in situ by researchers and participants. By adopting an ethnomethodological perspective, we analyse our use of the method in studies with a voice-controlled vacuum robot and two researchers present. We present data that reveals how such studies are organised and presented to participants and unpack the coordinated orchestration work that unfolds `behind the scenes' to complete the study. We examine how the researchers attend to participant requests and technical breakdowns, and discuss the performative, collaborative, and methodological nature of their work. We conclude by offering insights from our application of the approach to others in the HCI and CSCW communities for using the method.2020MPMartin Porcheron et al.Storytelling / Research Method ReflectionsCSCW
“I can’t get round”: Recruiting Assistance in Mobile Robotic TelepresenceVia audiovisual communications and a controllable physical embodiment, Mobile Robotic telePresence (MRP) systems aim to support enhanced collaboration between remote and local members of a given setting. But MRP systems also put the remote user in positions where they frequently rely on the help of local partners. Getting or ‘recruiting’ such help can be done with various verbal and embodied actions ranging in explicitness. In this paper, we look at how such recruitment occurs in video data drawn from an experiment where pairs of participants (one local, one remote) performed a timed searching task. We find a prevalence of implicit recruitment methods and outline obstacles to effective recruitment that emerge due to communicative asymmetries that are built into MRP design. In a future where remote work becomes widespread, assistance through remote work technology like MRPs needs close examination at a fundamental interactional level, taking into account how communicative asymmetries are at play in everyday use of such technologies.2020ABAndriana Boudouraki et al.Physical Interaction & RobotsCSCW
Visions, Values, and Videos: Revisiting Envisionings in Service of UbiComp Design for the HomeUbiComp has been envisioned to bring about a future dominated by calm computing technologies making our everyday lives ever more convenient. Yet the same vision has also attracted criticism for encouraging a solitary and passive lifestyle. The aim of this paper is to explore and elaborate these tensions further by examining the human values surrounding future domestic UbiComp solutions. Drawing on envisioning and contravisioning, we probe members of the public (N=28) through the presentation and focus group discussion of two contrasting animated video scenarios, where one is inspired by ‘calm’ and the other by `engaging’ visions of future UbiComp technology. By analysing the reasoning of our participants, we identify and elaborate a number of relevant values involved in balancing the two perspectives. In conclusion, we articulate practically applicable takeaways in the form of a set of key design questions and challenges.2020TNTommy Nilsson et al.Context-Aware ComputingUbiquitous ComputingDIS
Reframing Disability as Competency: Unpacking Everyday Technology Practices of People with Visual ImpairmentsMore than a billion people in the world live with some form of visual impairment, and a wide variety of technologies are now routinely used by them in the course of 'getting on' in everyday life. However, little is known about the ways in which assistive and non-assistive technologies are brought to bear on material practices. We present findings from a four-month ethnographic study facilitated by a local branch of a UK charity that supports people with visual impairments. Our study explores mainstream and assistive technology use within their everyday lives. We identify three main sites for technology use: social relations and communication practices, textual reading practices, and mobility practices. Via an ethnographic approach we contribute to understanding how people accomplish such practices, and in doing so, uncover the practical competencies that enable people with visual impairments to conduct their everyday activities. Thus we investigate how disability can be thought of in terms of competencies, arguing that understanding of competencies can enrich the design of technologies that fit the needs of people with visual impairments.2020GRGisela Reyes-Cruz et al.University of NottinghamVisual Impairment Technologies (Screen Readers, Tactile Graphics, Braille)Universal & Inclusive DesignCHI
Voice Interfaces in Everyday LifeVoice User Interfaces (VUIs) are becoming ubiquitously available, being embedded both into everyday mobility via smartphones, and into the life of the home via ‘assistant’ devices. Yet, exactly how users of such devices practically thread that use into their everyday social interactions remains underexplored. By collecting and studying audio data from month-long deployments of the Amazon Echo in participants’ homes—informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis—our study documents the methodical practices of VUI users, and how that use is accomplished in the complex social life of the home. Data we present shows how the device is made accountable to and embedded into conversational settings like family dinners where various simultaneous activities are being achieved. We discuss how the VUI is finely coordinated with the sequential organisation of talk. Finally, we locate implications for the accountability of VUI interaction, request and response design, and raise conceptual challenges to the notion of designing ‘conversational’ interfaces.2018MPMartin Porcheron et al.University of NottinghamVoice User Interface (VUI) DesignHome Voice Assistant ExperienceParticipatory DesignCHI
Voice-based Conversational UX Studies and DesignVoice User Interfaces are becoming ubiquitously available, providing unprecedented opportunities to advance our understanding of voice interaction in a burgeoning array of practices and settings. We invite participants to contribute work-in-progress in voice interaction, and to come together to reflect on related methodological matters, social uses, and design issues. This one-day workshop will be geared specifically to present and discuss methodologies for, and data emerging from, ongoing empirical studies of voice interfaces in use and connected emerging design insights. We seek to draw on participants’ (alongside organisers’) contributions to explore ways of operationalising findings from such studies for the purposes of design. As part of this, will try to identify what can be done to improve user experience and consider creative approaches to how we might ameliorate challenges that are faced in the design of voice UIs.2018SRStuart Reeves et al.Voice User Interface (VUI) DesignAgent Personality & AnthropomorphismCHI
Panel: Voice Assistants, UX Design and ResearchIn this panel, we discuss the challenges that are faced by HCI practitioners and researchers as they study how voice assistants (VA) are used on a daily basis. Voice has become a widespread and commercially viable interaction mechanism with the introduction of VAs such as Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, the Google Assistant, and Microsoft's Cortana. Despite their prevalence, the design of VAs and their embeddedness with other personal technologies and daily routines have yet to be studied in detail. Making use of a roundtable, we will discuss these issues by providing a number of VA use scenarios that panel members will discuss. Some of the issues that researchers will discuss in this panel include: (1) obtaining VA data & privacy concerns around the processing and storage of user data; (2) the personalization of VAs and the user value derived from this interaction; and (3) the relevant UX work that reflects on the design of VAs?2018JKJofish Kaye et al.MozillaVoice User Interface (VUI) DesignIntelligent Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri, etc.)CHI
Learning from the Veg Box: Designing Unpredictability in Agency DelegationThe Internet of Things (IoT) promises to enable applications that foster a more efficient, sustainable, and healthy way of life. If end-users are to take full advantage of these developments we foresee the need for future IoT systems and services to include an element of autonomy and support the delegation of agency to software processes and connected devices. To inform the design of such future technology, we report on a breaching experiment designed to investigate how people integrate an unpredictable service, through the veg box scheme, in everyday life. Findings from our semi-structured interviews and a two-week diary study with 11 households reveal that agency delegation must be warranted, that it must be possible to incorporate delegated decisions into everyday activities, and that delegation is subject to constraint. We further discuss design implications on the need to support people’s diverse values, and their coordinative and creative practices.2018JVJhim Kiel M. Verame et al.University of Southampton, University College LondonUbiquitous ComputingHuman-Nature Relationships (More-than-Human Design)CHI