What if the robot vacuum cleaner was the new companion of the French? 46% of the owners give him a little name, as if he were part of the family. And you ?
He aspires and sometimes washed in our place, we give him orders and sometimes we even cry on him when he does not do his job well. The robot vacuum cleaner is part of the daily life of many people and simplifies their lives well so to show them their affection, some owners gave it a little name.
This is revealed by a study conducted by Shark from 8,000 people with a robot vacuum cleaner in the United Kingdom, in France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Poland and the United Arab Emirates: almost one in two French people with a robot vacuum cleaner. According to the study, the reasons are simple: it’s fun (66 %), it makes use more pleasant (64 %) and it gives the device a personality (62 %). In short, to give a name to your robot is the first step towards a form of technological complicity. By naming it, the French weave an emotional link with their device and it is no longer just a machine. According to them, he also has his little character with his blockages under the sofa, his repeated passages in the same room and other accidents of course …
The most common first name given by the French to their device? It is rather touching since it is Nono, an obvious wink to the playful little robot of the series “Ulysse 31”, well known to children from the 80s. Jojo also was a great success, just like Marcel, Maurice or R2D2. The English, they prefer to stay in a more classic register: Robert and all its variants – Bob, Rob, Robbie – dominate in British homes.
Baptizing your vacuum cleaner is not a first. The French like to personalize their everyday objects: some have already given a name for their coffee machine, their computer or even their washing machine. This need to project a personality on connected objects shows how much technology fits into our daily lives, until it becomes almost endearing.
