Comparing Robot Embodiments for Social Human-Robot Interaction of a Health Coach Service

Abstract

As robotics technologies are advancing at an ever increasing rate, various types of service robots have emerged in the market and focused on assisting people through social interaction. This study aims to investigate the effects of robotic platforms on users’ perception of a socially assistive robot. A three-condition experiment was constructed, by using a commercially available robot as a health coach to see if participants respond differently to the physical robotic health coach versus its digital representation on screen. The three conditions were: a physical robot, its full size, 3D animated agent displayed on a 37-inch TV, and a much smaller animated agent on a mobile device. 81 participants were recruited (46 female, 35 male, age range: 19–32 years). The results show that participants’ responses to the physical robotic coach differ from their responses to its digital agents; the display device for an agent also affects participants’ subjective and behavioral responses to it. To conclude the study, suggestions for future cross-platform or cross-device human robot interactions are provided.

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Author Information
Hsiao-Chen You, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Yi-Shin Deng, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Yu-Cheng Yang, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

• Category: ACAH2017, Oral Presentation
• Tag: Communication, Film Studies, Media, Theatre

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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