Infrastructuring Robotics in Healthcare and Rehabilitation

In the coming decades, healthcare and rehabilitation robotics will become more integral to our lives than ever before. With technological advancements, including artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, these robotics will (1) substantially affect more people, (2) feature in not only clinical but also everyday settings, and (3) necessitate profound considerations of their ethical, legal, and social implications to facilitate responsible research and innovation. Drawing on a Japanese government-funded robotics research and development project, this sociological paper aims to present the profound impact of future robotics. Specifically, we explore the infrastructure concept as applied to the project, examining its characteristics, including its invisibility in many people’s daily lives despite—or because of—its utility.