At the Café—from an Object to a Subject

What are the characteristics that make an object appear to be a social entity? Is sociality limited to human beings? This article addresses the borders of sociality and the animation characteristics with which a physical object (here, an android robot) needs to be endowed so that it appears to be a living being. The transition of sociality is attributed during interactive encounters. We introduce the implications of an ethnomethodological analysis to show the characteristics of the transitions in the social attribution of an android robot, which is treated and perceived as gradually shifting from an object to a social entity. These characteristics should (a) fill the gap in current anthropological and sociological research, addressing the limits and characteristics of social entities and (b) contribute to the discussion of the specific characteristics of human–android interaction as compared to human–human interaction.