Believing in BERT: Using expressive communication to enhance trust and counteract operational error in physical Human-robot interaction

Adriana Hamacher, Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze, Anthony G. Pipe, Kerstin Eder

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

69 Citations (Scopus)
417 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Strategies are necessary to mitigate the impact of unexpected behavior in collaborative robotics, and research to develop solutions is lacking. Our aim here was to explore the benefits of an affective interaction, as opposed to a more efficient, less error prone but non-communicative one. The experiment took the form of an omelet-making task, with a wide range of participants interacting directly with BERT2, a humanoid robot assistant. Having significant implications for design, results suggest that efficiency is not the most important aspect of performance for users; a personable, expressive robot was found to be preferable over a more efficient one, despite a considerable trade off in time taken to perform the task. Our findings also suggest that a robot exhibiting human-like characteristics may make users reluctant to ‘hurt its feelings’; they may even lie in order to avoid this.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2016 25th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2016)
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of a meeting held 26-31 August 2016, New York, New York, USA
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages493-500
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781509039296
ISBN (Print)9781509039302
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2017
EventRO-MAN 2016 - Columbia University, Teachers College, New York City, United States
Duration: 26 Aug 201631 Aug 2016

Publication series

NameInternational Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)
PublisherIEEE
Volume25
ISSN (Electronic)1944-9437

Conference

ConferenceRO-MAN 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNew York City
Period26/08/1631/08/16

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