Social RoboticsFour years on, families still keep their retired reading robot
A follow-up on the owl-shaped Luka robot found deep attachment long after its job ended.
Zhao Zhao and colleagues placed Luka, a picture-book reading robot, in 20 North American family homes in 2021 and revisited them in 2025. Although the children had outgrown it, 18 of 19 households still had the robot, using it as a music player, night light or keepsake, and one child called it a little brother. One family even held a retirement ceremony before passing it to a cousin. Writing in Frontiers in Robotics and AI, the authors urge designers to plan for robots' lives over years and for graceful exits that respect the bond.
Source: Tech Xplore (Frontiers)
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