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arXiv · 2603.16336

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

Bruce W. Wilson·David A. Robb·Mei Yii Lim·Helen Hastie·Matthew Peter Aylett·Theodoros Georgiou
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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-50's housing complex in Stockton, England. Residents received a free daily coffee by interacting with a Furhat robot assigned to either a narrative or non-narrative 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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Bruce W. Wilson, David A. Robb, Mei Yii Lim, Helen Hastie, Matthew Peter Aylett, Theodoros Georgiou. 2026-03-17. Faulty Coffees: Barriers to Adoption of an In-the-wild Robo-Barista. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.16336

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