Special Session by Meta

Special Session on “HRI and Consumer Robots: Building Robots that are Useful and Acceptable”
(Sponsored by Meta)

Danny Ullman (Meta), Laura Trutoiu (Meta), Sarah Papazoglakis (Meta),
Ross Mead (HRI 2026 Partnership Chair)

Overview

The HRI 2026 conference is hosting a special session workshop sponsored by Meta that will explore what it means to build household robots for consumers—robots that provide people with meaningful value in everyday life. Together, we will explore how we can translate insights from academia into foundational framing which could help guide industry approaches to building robots that are both valuable to people and acceptable to people for in-home use. If the HRI community could offer guidance or principles to the humanoid robotics industry, what would it be?

Topics

The special session will focus on the theme of “How might we build robots that provide people with meaningful value in the home?” and may explore the following topics:

  • What types of tasks / use cases would be most valuable for people / society and why?
  • How might robot design and use influence user acceptance and social acceptability?
  • What principles might guide robot design and use?
  • How might we learn from existing industry technologies and products in designing for consumer robots?
  • What might transparent or explainable human-robot interaction look like in consumer settings, striking the right balance of information?

Audience

This workshop is open to anyone who is interested, including researchers and practitioners from industry, academia, and other HRI conference attendees. This special session is free to attend; however, space is limited, so apply via the link below by January 15 January 22, 2026, and you will receive a notification of eligible attendance by January 29, 2026.

  • If you are interested in attending, please apply here with a short paragraph related to the workshop topics (fewer than 250 words).
  • If you are interested in travel support, you must also submit a paper (described below). Travel support (up to $1,500 per person) will be offered to attendees who submit a paper that is accepted.

Papers (Optional)

You are invited (but not required) to submit a short workshop paper (1–2 pages, not including references) focused on the session theme and topics above. The paper will not be published and is not required to attend; however, a paper submission is required to be considered for travel support (up to $1,500 per person). Please submit your paper by January 15 January 22, 2026.

Important Dates

All deadlines are “Anywhere on Earth” (AoE), unless otherwise specified.

  • Workshop Application Form (Required): January 15 January 22, 2026 (apply here)
  • Paper Submission (Optional): January 15 January 22, 2026 (submit here)
  • Notification of Workshop Attendance: January 29, 2026
  • Notification of Paper Acceptance: January 29, 2026
  • Special Session Workshop Date: March 16, 2026 (~1pm–5pm, UTC+0)