“Here comes my son!”

The article uncovers the formation of an infrastructure made to facilitate the implementation of a telepresence robot in a Danish nursing home. Ethnographic fieldwork data illuminates how myriad of human and non-human actors, such as supporters, Wi-Fi networks, care workers and cameras, work together as a hybrid, socio-technical collective. This collective constantly coordinates and improvises in a joint effort to construct, maintain and stabilise the flexible infrastructure, which facilitates the implementation of the new communication technology in the daily routines of staff and residents at the nursing home. The main argument of the article is that implementation of new technology is dependent on large amounts of work on the part of both of human and technical actors. Much of this work is normally invisible to and lack acknowledgment by decision makers. Thus, the article argues that a focus on infrastructure proves crucial in the uncovering of otherwise invisible work processes.

本文揭示了为助力丹麦某养老院部署远程呈现机器人（telepresence robot）而搭建的基础设施的构建历程。依托民族志田野调查数据，本文阐明了人类与非人类行动者——包括支援人员、无线网络、护理人员与摄像头等——如何作为混合社会技术集合体协同运作。该集合体持续开展协调与即兴调试，通力协作以搭建、维护并稳固这套灵活的基础设施，从而使该新型通信技术得以在养老院员工与入住者的日常工作与生活中落地应用。本文的核心论点为：新技术的部署依赖于人类行动者与技术行动者双方付出的大量工作。此类工作中的绝大多数通常不为决策者所察觉，亦未获得其认可。因此，本文主张，聚焦基础设施建设，对于挖掘那些原本难以被发现的工作流程而言至关重要。