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[2602.15767] Robot-Assisted Social Dining as a White Glove Service
Summary
The paper explores robot-assisted dining for individuals with disabilities, emphasizing the need for robots that can adapt to social dining contexts while providing dignified assistance.
Why It Matters
This research addresses a significant gap in the application of robotics for social dining, particularly for individuals with disabilities. By focusing on in-the-wild scenarios, it highlights the importance of designing robots that can operate in dynamic environments, enhancing independence and social interaction for users.
Key Takeaways
- Robot-assisted dining can enhance independence for individuals with disabilities.
- Designing for social contexts requires robots to exhibit contextually sensitive behaviors.
- The robot should support multimodal interactions and prioritize user needs.
- Expanded roles beyond feeding can improve the dining experience.
- Participatory design with users is crucial for effective robot development.
Computer Science > Robotics arXiv:2602.15767 (cs) [Submitted on 17 Feb 2026] Title:Robot-Assisted Social Dining as a White Glove Service Authors:Atharva S Kashyap, Ugne Aleksandra Morkute, Patricia Alves-Oliveira View a PDF of the paper titled Robot-Assisted Social Dining as a White Glove Service, by Atharva S Kashyap and 2 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Robot-assisted feeding enables people with disabilities who require assistance eating to enjoy a meal independently and with dignity. However, existing systems have only been tested in-lab or in-home, leaving in-the-wild social dining contexts (e.g., restaurants) largely unexplored. Designing a robot for such contexts presents unique challenges, such as dynamic and unsupervised dining environments that a robot needs to account for and respond to. Through speculative participatory design with people with disabilities, supported by semi-structured interviews and a custom AI-based visual storyboarding tool, we uncovered ideal scenarios for in-the-wild social dining. Our key insight suggests that such systems should: embody the principles of a white glove service where the robot (1) supports multimodal inputs and unobtrusive outputs; (2) has contextually sensitive social behavior and prioritizes the user; (3) has expanded roles beyond feeding; (4) adapts to other relationships at the dining table. Our work has implications for in-the-wild and group contexts of robot-assisted feeding. Comments: Subjects: Ro...
