Research
Researchers at the University of Glasgow have used augmented reality to rapidly prototype dozens of combinations of faces and voices overlaid on an existing social robot, finding that animal-like or anime-style features could maximise emotional appeal to users. The work, presented at a conference, aims to close a gap in academic research on how social robot designs can be optimised for expressiveness and emotional engagement.
Social robots are designed to provide companionship and comfort by mimicking human or pet-like behaviours, and the sector is described as fast-growing. Yet the source notes that surprisingly little academic research has explored how their designs can be optimised to make them as expressive and emotionally engaging as possible. The Glasgow team’s approach targets that gap directly.
The work, presented at a conference, aims to close a gap in academic research on how social robot designs can be optimised for expressiveness and emotional engagement.
Dr Shaun Macdonald and Josh Yip of the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science worked with a group of volunteers, using augmented reality to test dozens of different combinations of faces and voices overlaid on the body of an existing social robot called a Qoobo, which has a soft, cushion-like body and a swinging tail. This rapid prototyping method let the researchers explore how users felt about the virtual robots and how effectively users could ‘read’ the robot’s emotional states to make them feel more like real creatures.
Dr Macdonald said that social robots can provide valuable experiences for a wide range of people, noting that older people have reported they can help mitigate feelings of loneliness or social isolation, and that people living in spaces where they can’t keep a real pet have kindled some of that sense of companionship. The research is positioned as guidance for the future design of social robots.
Source: Robohub