Mara Martina, Stein Jan-Philipp, Latoschik Marc Erich, Lugrin Birgit, Schreiner Constanze, Hostettler Rafael, Appel Markus
Robopsychology Lab, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria.
Psychology of Communication and New Media, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 15;12:633178. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633178. eCollection 2021.
Humanoid robots (i.e., robots with a human-like body) are projected to be mass marketed in the future in several fields of application. Today, however, user evaluations of humanoid robots are often based on mediated depictions rather than actual observations or interactions with a robot, which holds true not least for scientific user studies. People can be confronted with robots in various modes of presentation, among them (1) 2D videos, (2) 3D, i.e., stereoscopic videos, (3) immersive Virtual Reality (VR), or (4) live on site. A systematic investigation into how such differential modes of presentation influence user perceptions of a robot is still lacking. Thus, the current study systematically compares the effects of different presentation modes with varying immersive potential on user evaluations of a humanoid service robot. Participants ( = 120) observed an interaction between a humanoid service robot and an actor either on 2D or 3D video, via a virtual reality headset (VR) or live. We found support for the expected effect of the presentation mode on perceived immediacy. Effects regarding the degree of human likeness that was attributed to the robot were mixed. The presentation mode had no influence on evaluations in terms of eeriness, likability, and purchase intentions. Implications for empirical research on humanoid robots and practice are discussed.
类人机器人（即具有类人身体的机器人）预计未来将在多个应用领域进行大规模销售。然而，如今，用户对类人机器人的评价往往基于间接描述，而非对机器人的实际观察或互动，这在科学用户研究中尤为如此。人们可以通过各种展示模式接触机器人，其中包括：（1）二维视频；（2）三维，即立体视频；（3）沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）；或（4）现场直播。目前仍缺乏对这种不同展示模式如何影响用户对机器人认知的系统研究。因此，本研究系统地比较了具有不同沉浸潜力的不同展示模式对类人服务机器人用户评价的影响。参与者（n = 120）通过二维或三维视频、虚拟现实头戴设备（VR）或现场直播观察了类人服务机器人与一名演员之间的互动。我们发现展示模式对感知即时性的预期影响得到了支持。关于赋予机器人的类人程度的影响则较为复杂。展示模式对怪异感、喜爱度和购买意愿方面的评价没有影响。本文讨论了对类人机器人实证研究和实践的启示。
