This paper discusses robots that are operational within a human-inhabited environment. Specifically, we identify different roles that such robots can adopt, reflecting different human-robot relationships. We discuss three different roles of robots in a project where we develop a robot as a therapeutic tool for children with autism: the robot as a therapeutic playmate, the robot as a social mediator, and the robot as a model social agent. Implications of these roles that go beyond this particular project are discussed.
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