Insights & resources
Being at the forefront of research on service robots, the researchers of the Maastricht Center of Robots (MCR) investigate many important issues, such as service and social robots in unstructured environments, human-robot interactions, service robots’ value creation and destruction potential, and the service triad consisting of service robots, customers, and frontline employees.
On these topics, the members of the MCR have produced many relevant publications and conference papers. Also our students have written interesting and insightful Master theses. Our most relevant projects and publications are listed below.
PhD Thesis
Social AI Agents in Service — Cum Laude 🏅
Dr. Marc Becker
This dissertation explores how social agents transform service interactions across work, education, and leadership, showing their role in reshaping social expectations, roles, and legitimacy.
Beyond the Dyad
Dr. Mark Steins
This dissertation explores how service robots transform human interactions across hospitality, education, and healthcare, showing their role in reshaping service ecosystems and relationships.
Service Robots in the Wild
Dr. Chelsea Phillips
This dissertation examines how service robots support frontline employees’ well-being in hospitality and aged care, reducing burnout and turnover while shaping human-robot work interactions.
Key Open Publications
Robots Are Here to Stay: Time to Invest in a Future We Actually Want to Live In
This editorial in Journal of Service Research highlights the transformative role of robots in services. It shifts focus from technological novelty to human–robot interaction impacts, urging wise investment in service robots to shape a future that enhances human relationships, well-being, and societal value.
I Care That You Don’t Share: Confidentiality in Student-Robot Interactions
This research introduces robot teacher confidentiality, showing that students engage more when interactions are private, reducing anxiety and judgment concerns. Findings from six studies with 2,012 participants highlight how confidentiality boosts usage, especially for prevention-focused students, moderated by teacher benevolence.
Service robots: Value co-creation and co-destruction in elderly care networks
This study explores the role of socially assistive robots in elderly care networks. It identifies six robot roles, enabler, intruder, ally, replacement, extended self, and deactivator, and links them to safeguarding, social contact, and cognitive support. Findings provide insights for designing robots that enhance value co-creation while minimizing co-destruction.
Service robots and innovation: An ecosystem approach
This study examines service robots in healthcare ecosystems, focusing on how their roles drive innovation. It introduces Service Robot-based Innovation, highlighting the collaboration between public and private stakeholders. A case study of Ivy demonstrates its integration into long-term care to enhance patient support.
Student Projects
Humanlike or Machinelike? How a service robot’s voice and language adaptations shape customer acceptance in retail
Ann-Kathrin Meyer collaborated with Welbo, an MCR industry partner, to study how service robots’ voice types (robotic vs. humanlike) and language styles (emotive vs. non-emotive) affect customer acceptance. Using online experiments with 402 participants, she found that a humanlike voice is most effective when paired with a humanlike appearance.
Human-Robot Interaction: How do service robot linguistic style and voice type affect customer service encounter evaluation?
Nina Beau collaborated with MCR partner Welbo, conducting studies with 496 participants. Her thesis shows that a humanlike voice and informal language style align best with customers’ conversational expectations. She also finds that extraversion matters: introverts prefer robots with a humanlike voice type.
Do you want to be served by a robot? – How to ensure successful implementation of service robots in a restaurant.
Minako van Overstraeten conducted 17 interviews on service robot acceptance in restaurants, considering both customers and employees. She highlights the need for a network-conscious approach, ensuring customer satisfaction and employee well-being. Customers need clear guidance on robot use, while employees should be reassured about job security and offered ways to differentiate from robots.
How do hospitality employees with different personality traits and experiences perceive service robot implementation into their work environment?
Gabija Norkeviciute collaborated with MCR partner Dadawan for her thesis, exploring service robot use in restaurants from an employee perspective. Through 10 in-depth interviews, she found that personality shapes employees’ views of robots, identifying two personas: the cooperator and the sceptic. Managers should adapt implementation strategies to address both.