The implementation of robots endowed with cognitive and social skills is getting a lot of attention in Social Robotics research. From the AI research standpoint, the symbiosis of humans with robotic agents in less controlled environments foregrounds a variety of research challenges, including understanding how to operate objects not previously known, communicating with humans with socially acceptable means of interaction, exhibiting predictable and common sense behavior, as well as learning the dynamics of open, less controlled domains.

SoCoLA agents will rely on their socio-cognitive skills, in order to formally describe potentially unknown domestic objects, such as the set of context-dependent actions that can be performed on them, the purpose of use of these objects in a home setting, and whether they are recommended for the person the agent is collaborating with.