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The Role of Physical Embodiment in Human-Robot Interaction

TitleThe Role of Physical Embodiment in Human-Robot Interaction
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2002
AuthorsWainer J, Feil-Seifer D, Shell D, Mataric M
Conference NameProceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '02)
AbstractAutonomous robots are agents with physical bodies that share our environment. In this work, we test the hypothesis that physical embodiment has a measurable effect on performance and perception of social interactions. Support of this hypothesis would suggest fundamental differences between virtual agents and robots from a social standpoint and have significant implications for human-robot interaction. We measure task performance and perception of a robot’s social abilities in a structured but open-ended task based on the Towers of Hanoi puzzle. Our experiment compares aspects of embodiment by evaluating: (1) the difference between a physical robot and a simulated one; (2) the effect of physical presence through a co-located robot versus a remote tele-present robot. We present data from a pilot study with 12 subjects showing interesting differences in perception of remote physical robot’s and simulated agent’s attention to the task, and task enjoyment. Index Terms—Human-robot interaction, embodiment
Posted by mickwalters on Thursday, 19 February, 2009 /

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