Roombas fill an emotional vacuum for owners—literally and figuratively—according to baffled scientists and delighted introverts. As these robot vacuums clean up homes, they also clean up emotional messes, proving that sometimes the best support system is fully automated and shaped like a frisbee.

Whether it’s naming their Roombas or celebrating when they gracefully avoid obstacles, humans find connection in these disk-shaped helpers. Roombas now filling emotional voids for lonely humans signals a quirky turn—loneliness meets technology, and both get swept up.