Study finds Roomba owners heart their vacuums, accept flaws

While we greatly appreciate the research done by the fine folks over at Georgia Tech, we can't exactly say that we're shocked to hear that Roomba owners (in particular) actually care about their vacuums. In a study revolving around the intricacies in human-robot relationships, gurus found that "some Roomba owners became deeply attached to the robotic vacuums and that there was a measure of public readiness to accept additional robots in the house -- even flawed ones." Interestingly, the report goes on to state that consumers would be less likely to complain if troublesome / faulty household bots were "emotionally engaging," and considering that some folks were willing to "buy new rugs, pre-clean floors and purchase refrigerators with higher clearances" for their Roomba, we suppose we can't really argue with the findings. Now, robot manufacturers, don't you go ditching quality just 'cause we're pushovers, capiche?

[Image courtesy of Halo5]

[jbcaro @ Oct 1st 2007 11:29PM]

The twins are very, very clean now.

[blackfeather @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:36PM]

eeewww...

[Nik Shah @ Oct 1st 2007 11:39PM]

I am not going to lie, we have a roomba in a dorm room(cleans fantastically) but everyday pretty much when we use it, me and my roommate put all the wires out of the way, put chairs on our beds, and anything loose on the floor away. But its a small price to pay to not have to deal with being stingy as hell when we have people over.

[mushrooshi @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:19AM]

These robots sure are kawaii

[BrianP @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:23AM]

It's not like pre-cleaning is unique to robotic vacuums, it's still less work on the whole.

[Nik Shah @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:36AM]

The amount of pre-cleaning compared to traditional vacuuming is a whole lot more though.

[ark_v2 @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:14AM]

That pic is disturbing and funny at the same time.

[Craig @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:25AM]

i think it's funny how people talk about "pre-cleaning" with roomba... it's not like you didn't have to move cords or chairs or whatever with your old vacuum...

[Anthony @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:35AM]

I guess I'm alone. I sold mine on Craigslist for $20 after it started running backwards & I'd had numerous issues (& a similar crummy experience) w/ the Scooba.

Must confess: When they announced the new variants I considered getting another. My wife brought me to my senses.

Dyson, I like you too.

[grouch @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:52AM]

This is exactly why the iPhone bluetooth IO sub-system needs to be extended (to basic functionality) and opened. Who cares about SIM unlocking. If my roomba could chat to my iPhone I'd be much less pissed at being duped into buying a phone with no knackers. Get your hand off it Apple and let the iPhone be what it could be.

[Mike Klein @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:58AM]

consumers would be less likely to complain if troublesome / faulty household bots were "emotionally engaging,"


Oh what a bunch of crap. What this means is "if we throw in something cute like clippy will you mind if your robot requires rebooting 50/day".

Drop the emotionally engaging horseshit...make the robot work first.

[John @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:08AM]

I, for one, welcome our emotionally engaging robot overlords...

[Mike Cohen @ Oct 2nd 2007 9:44AM]

I *hate* my Roomba. I find that it's more work than a regular vacuum. First I have to pick up pet toys (which it would choke on), move stuff out of its way, and either close doors or set up virtual walls to make sure it doesn't get in trouble. When it's finally done a few hours later, it's more difficult to clean than any other vacuum I've used and it's incredibly messy.

I ended up buying a Dyson DC07 which I love. With a regular vacuum I can pick up & move stuff as I go along instead of having to prepare before I start. It's also a lot easier to clean.

Anyone want to buy a slightly used Roomba Sage and an extra virtual wall?

[Racer X @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:00AM]

I love my roomba! I don't worry about pre-cleaning... I just have the roomba running while I'm doing other cleaning so I can monitor it, empty it occasionally, etc. Everything gets done a lot more quickly with a little helper :)

[Brad @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:57PM]

I have a Roomba. I named him Mr. Belvidere. Does that count as "deeply attached?"

[John Blake @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:05PM]

For any of those that are interested, the study was conducted over the course of 5 months. Here are the threads where it was conducted:

http://www.roombareview.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=2800

http://www.roombareview.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=3832

http://www.roombareview.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=3670

[Willy @ Oct 3rd 2007 8:33AM]

I love my Roomba, and we took Roomba's clearance into account recently when we purchased shelves and a TV stand.

[Erik Giles @ Oct 17th 2007 6:29PM]

Add a few more 'attachments' and these women will throw out their husbands and never leave the house.