Comparison of Cultural Acceptability for Educational Robots between Europe and Korea

Abstract

Europeans are much more rigid in their thinking on robots and especially have a negative view on robots as peers since they regard robots as labor machines. Recently, Korea invented several educational robots as peer tutors. Therefore, study was needed to determine the difference in cultural acceptability for educational robots between Korea and Europe (Spain). We found that Europe seems to be much more rigid in its thinking on robots and especially has a negative view on educational robots. Korean parents have a strong tendency to see robots as 'the friend of children,' while on the other hand, European parents tend to see educational robots as 'machines or electronics'. Meanwhile, the expectation of children on educational robots showing identification content was higher in Europe than in Korea since European children are familiar with costume parties. This result implied that we may find a Korean market for educational robots earlier than a European market, but European children will be eager to play with educational robots even though their parents have a negative view of them.