Gartner Research

Emerging Technologies: Top Use Cases Where Robots Interact Directly With Humans

Published: 22 March 2022

Summary

These real-world case studies in education, healthcare and social support provide essential guidance for product leaders on harnessing the infinite patience, and anthropomorphic (humanlike) features, of smart robots to provide (and support) social engagement across applications.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • End users are increasingly comfortable interacting with robots for education, companionship, and medical procedures either as smart objects or representatives of remote workers.

  • Robots are well suited to expanding the teaching or caring workforce where their infinite patience can provide enhanced care, at lower cost than an employee’s salary and benefits.

  • Social engagement robots are starting to appear in education, government healthcare providers and private individuals.

Recommendations

To capitalize on this technology, product leaders should:

  • Leverage human tendency to anthropomorphize by integrating key features (such as a name, symmetrical eyes or characterful voice interaction) to increase engagement with the robots.

  • Use robots cooperatively

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