Björling Elin A, Thomas Kyle, Rose Emma J, Cakmak Maya
Momentary Experience Lab, Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, WA, United States.
Front Robot AI. 2020 Feb 21;7:5. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2020.00005. eCollection 2020.
As social robots continue to show promise as assistive technologies, the exploration of appropriate and impactful robot behaviors is key to their eventual success. Teens are a unique population given their vulnerability to stress leading to both mental and physical illness. Much of teen stress stems from school, making the school environment an ideal location for a stress reducing technology. The goal of this mixed-methods study was to understand teens' operation of, and responsiveness to, a robot only capable of movement compared to a robot only capable of speech. Stemming from a human-centered approach, we introduce a Participatory Wizard of Oz (PWoz) interaction method that engaged teens as operators, users, and witnesses in a uniquely transparent interaction. In this paper, we illustrate the use of the PWoz interaction method as well as how it helps identify engaging robot interactions. Using this technique, we present results from a study with 62 teens that includes details of the complexity of teen stress and a significant reduction in negative attitudes toward robots after interactions. We analyzed the teens' interactions with both the verbal and non-verbal robots and identified strong themes of (1) authenticity, (2) empathy, (3) emotional engagement, and (4) imperfection creates connection. Finally, we reflect on the benefits and limitations of the PWoz method and our study to identify next steps toward the design and development of our social robot.
随着社交机器人作为辅助技术不断展现出前景，探索恰当且有影响力的机器人行为是其最终成功的关键。青少年是一个独特的群体，因为他们容易受到压力影响，进而导致身心疾病。青少年的压力大多源于学校，这使得学校环境成为引入减压技术的理想场所。这项混合方法研究的目的是了解青少年对仅能移动的机器人和仅能说话的机器人的操作情况及反应。基于以人为本的方法，我们引入了一种参与式奥兹巫师（PWoz）交互方法，让青少年在一种独特的透明交互中担任操作员、用户和见证者。在本文中，我们阐述了PWoz交互方法的使用以及它如何有助于识别引人入胜的机器人交互。运用这项技术，我们展示了一项针对62名青少年的研究结果，其中包括青少年压力复杂性的细节以及交互后对机器人负面态度的显著降低。我们分析了青少年与语音机器人和非语音机器人的交互情况，并确定了四个突出主题：（1）真实性，（2）同理心，（3）情感投入，（4）不完美创造联系。最后，我们反思了PWoz方法和我们研究的优点与局限性，以确定社交机器人设计和开发的下一步方向。
