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A wave of social, domestic robots is poised to enter our homes. Robots such as Jibo, Kuri and Olly are networked with other ‘smart’ devices and use cameras and voice control to provide companionship, care and household management. These robots are proposed as members of the family, and as such must encourage intimacy and trust with their human caregivers. In this article, we explore the nexus between the cute aesthetic of home robots and the kinds of affective relationships this aesthetic enables with the human user. Our argument is that the cuteness of home robots creates a highly ambivalent relationship of power between (human) subject and (robotic/digital) object, whereby the manifestation of consciousness and the production of lasting emotional bonds require home robots to exceed the affective and semiotic limitations, even as their cute appearance may encourage the production of intimacy. By exceeding the borders established by their own design, home robots are able to manifest as conscious beings, a manifestation which both destabilizes the power differential between user and robot and, paradoxically, points to the possibility of their own replacement. To explore these ideas, we discuss three soon-to-be-released social robots: Mayfield Robotics’ Kuri, Emotech’s Olly and Jibo Inc.’s Jibo. Each promises a unique personality that will integrate them as a member of the family.

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As our environment grows increasingly unstable and our awareness of a new breed of natural disasters weighs heavily on our collective consciousness, the anxiety resulting from our vulnerability within the changing world has been elevated. While design works towards adapting to our contemporary ecological challenges, alternative approaches that prioritize not only the systems and material considerations relevant to sustainability but the needs of our psychological condition must be considered. Such an approach, therefore, must expand the application of emotional design in fostering desire, love, attachment, and functionality, in the promotion of mental and emotional wellbeing. This paper investigates these ideas through a case study involving the development of speculative furniture designs. The artifacts proposed employ empathy, humor, creativity, and play in an aim to foster resilience around seismic events, and offers a timely precedent in support of sustainable design practice through the development of meaningful and durable design relationships.

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