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Peripersonal Space Perception Is Similar When We Interact With Other Humans or With Humanoid Robots.
Mustile Magda1,2, Anna Maria Borghi3,4, Davide De Tommaso2
1The Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain- la- Neuve, Belgium.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|January 3, 2026
Summary
Social context shrinks personal space. Participants perceived their own space as larger than others
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Human-Robot Interaction
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Peripersonal space acts as a body-environment interface.
- Its modulation by social presence, especially artificial agents, is under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate how artificial agents influence peripersonal space representation.
- Compare human and humanoid robot agent effects on space perception.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments assessed object reachability judgments.
- Tasks involved solo performance, human interaction, and humanoid robot (iCub) interaction.
Main Results:
- Social context narrowed participants' peripersonal space compared to solo tasks.
- Own peripersonal space was perceived as larger than that of human or robot agents.
Conclusions:
- Social agents, including robots, modulate peripersonal space.
- Human and artificial agent motor repertoires are perceived similarly.
- Findings offer insights into space perception during social interactions.
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