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The Power of Robot-mediated Play: Forming Friendships and Expressing Identity
Verónica Ahumada-Newhart1, Margaret Schneider2, Laurel D Riek3
1University of California, Davis, USA.
ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction
|October 25, 2023
Summary
Children use tele-operated robots for self-directed play, fostering friendships and identity. Robot-mediated play offers social-emotional benefits comparable to in-person interactions, informing future robot designs.
Area of Science:
- Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
- Child Development
- Robotics
Background:
- Tele-operated robots are increasingly used in education.
- Child-directed play is crucial for social-emotional learning.
- Understanding robot-facilitated play is essential for development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how children use tele-operated robots for self-directed play.
- To identify novel play scenarios and emergent themes in robot-mediated play.
- To inform the design of robots that support children's play and social development.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of a national, multi-year case study.
- Involved 53 children across grades K-12.
- Examined self-directed play activities with tele-operated robots.
Main Results:
- Identified five categories of novel play scenarios: physical, verbal, visual, extracurricular, and wished-for play.
- Discovered robot-mediated play supports friendships and self-expression/identity.
- Robot-mediated play yielded benefits similar to in-person play.
Conclusions:
- Robot-mediated play is a viable avenue for social-emotional learning and development.
- Findings can guide the design of social robots and HRI systems for children.
- Encourages further interdisciplinary research into robot-mediated play.
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