## 1 Introduction  
There is a global aging crisis as the number of Older Adults (OAs) drastically increases over the next few decades [1]. In 2020, there were 1 billion people over the age of 60 globally, and will grow to 1.4 billion in 2030 [2]. By 2050, the aging population is projected to nearly double to 2.1 billion [2], similar to the United Nation's world population projections (Figure 1) [3]. This aging crisis is outpacing the rate of labor force growth, which among many things, is needed to support OAs as they age to provide caregiving services and medical support. As humans age, we lose the ability to complete activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing and toileting. Many OAs have expressed that loss of digity by requiring caregiver assistance is one of the largest concerns they face when it comes to aging [4]. Several technologies, including robotics, can assist OAs in these challenges. Aging in place provides more independence, leading OAs to favor aging in place [5, 6, 7]. Japanese OAs especially do not want to be a burden; they want to do for themselves for as long as possible to maintain their physical and mental skills. However, they could still benefit from a robot's help on their terms and done in their way. We drew inspiration from human-human caregiver (CG)-care receiver (CR) interactions to identify how a CG robot should assist CRs. There are several techniques that professional CGs use to successfully assist CRs with transfers; the key insight is that these techniques focus on the health and physical demands of CGs, and robots for this purpose do not have these same considerations. Using the interactions and known techniques of professional CGs, we believe that a home-helper robot that assists with mobility and stability should take on whatever form factor and ergonomic design is necessary to perform transfer tasks that consider only OAs' bio-mechanics, physical attributes, and comfort. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that the ideal or desirable embodiment is a humanoid form with 2 arms, a mobile body, and a head which is the expected and typical image portrayed in science fiction. However, robot embodiment can be a key indicator of acceptance and success of a robot as people often first identify with the appearance of a robot before its functionality [8]. Research has shown that humans prefer an anthropomorphic (human-like) or zoomorphic (animal-like) [9]. When mobility or transfer tasks, like walking, climbing stairs, and sit-to-stand, are the robot's primary assistive function, \"form should follow function\" [10] and therefore the form does not necessarily have to be humanoid. On the other hand, roboticists frequent the idea of creating robots that look and function like humans [9]. Research has shown that humans interact with technology the same way that they do with other people [9]. An additional aid in acceptance is appearance as the form and design of robots can establish social expectations and can be a foundation of an emotional connection [9]. A more mechanical appearance lacks aesthetic appeal and leads users to focus more on functionality [8]. A robot with a 'human' appearance (anthropomorphic) can allow users to foster trust, as well as create an emotional connection [8; 9]. In this study, our research question is what is the appropriate embodiment for a caregiving robot to physically assist an independently living OA with sit-to-stand (STS) and other mobility and stability needs within their home. We examined OAs', who were either caregivers (CGs) or care receivers (CRs), attitudes, and perceptions of assistive caregiving robots that could enable independent aging-in-place. Our target OA population  
Figure 1: United Nations’ projected age structure of future populations of the world [3]. for robotic support is those who require \(min\) and \(mod\) assistance. We developed different robot embodiments to assist with in-home transfer tasks, iterating on the designs with insights from a product designer and an Occupational Therapist.