To study how robot sounds are interpreted in everyday interaction we placed a Cozmo toy robot Swedish and German family homes and video-recorded the encounters. We analysed on a turn-by-turn basis how participants respond to audible and visible robot behavior and show how sound animations are consequential for interactional progressivity:
1. Displays of happiness typically move the interaction forward, while displays of sadness regularly lead to a reconsideration of previous actions by humans. We suggest that sadness can function as an interactional “rewind button” and discuss how the inherent vagueness of emotion displays can be deployed in design.
Results published at [HRI2020].
2. Sound animations can be used as a resource for managing delay. They can provide an explanation of what the robot is doing and encourage re-engagement once the robot is ready to continue.
Results published at [TOCHI].
3. Studying more generally how families treat a robot in their home, we demonstrate that the status of the robot as an autonomous agent emerges when humans treat the robot’s behavior as contributing relevant actions to an ongoing interaction. But humans may also treat the robot as a plastic object at any time.
Results published in [Social Interaction].
Hannah Pelikan 