Which One? Choosing Favorite Robot After Different Styles of Storytelling and Robots' Conversation

Area of Science:

• Human-Robot Interaction
• Social Robotics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• The increasing role of service robots necessitates understanding effective human-robot interaction.
• Optimizing modalities for social robots is crucial for enhancing user engagement and learning.
• Previous research highlights the importance of robot expressiveness in human perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify optimal social service robot modalities that improve human learning and enjoyment.
• To determine which robot characteristics enhance human attention and collaboration preference.
• To investigate the impact of personality, gestures, and attitude on user interaction.

Main Methods:

• Two between-group experiments were conducted with college students (pre-service teachers).
• Participants watched a Nao robot perform storytelling with manipulated modalities (gestures, attitude, personality).
• Knowledge acquisition and enjoyment were assessed, followed by a collaboration preference task.

Main Results:

• Participants preferred robots with cheerful personalities and expressive body movements.
• A preference was observed for robots that previously delivered the storytelling.
• Robots with extremely friendly attitudes and storytelling styles were less preferred.

Conclusions:

• Cheerful personality and expressive gestures are key modalities for effective human-robot collaboration.
• Robot expressiveness significantly influences user preference and perceived likability.
• Careful consideration of robot persona is essential for designing engaging social service robots.