Towards ethical research practice: Anticipating social consequences of rehabilitation robots

Historically, the advent of new technology has accompanied by social issues, such as unequal access to the technology and job displacement. Rehabilitation robotics technology for post-stroke survivors is not an exception. The high costs of many of rehabilitation robots make only a few major hospitals and rehabilitation centers in urban areas viable consumers. Potentially, the robots 1) may be accessible only by those who have had access to these facilities already and 2) can replace some of the therapists in these facilities. In order to mitigate these undesirable social consequences, we draw upon Rogers´ theory on the diffusion process of technological innovations, which emphasizes the role of scientists and engineers in shaping the technology throughout the whole process. We suggest that scientists and engineers address the technological needs in a way that the resulting products can assume the roles that are complementary to those of humans rather than take over them. Specifically, through the case study on InMotion ARM and Lokomat, we analyze the three intrinsic elements, form, function, and meaning of these robots to assess and anticipate their potential impact on society. We contend that the collective efforts of scientists and engineers may enable the deployment of rehabilitation robotics technology to be less invasive to the existing labor market as well as accessible to a larger post-stroke population. This, in turn, may build the foundation where humans and robots can coexist in various work domains.