The Doctor will See You Now: Could a Robot Be a medical Receptionist?

Abstract

A robot cannot be warm and friendly - or can it? To explore whether a robot can be a medical receptionist, we developed a robotic system for interacting with patients at a doctor's clinic, including acting friendly. We designed the robot to interact naturally with patients at the start and finish of a clinic visit. We investigated people's perceptions to the robot in a wizard-of-Oz study, where the participants interacted with the robot over four interactions. 40 participants evaluated the robot. The results indicate the participants thought the robot could be a friendly receptionist, especially after repeated interactions with the robot. However, the participants mainly thought the robot was friendly in a “professional” way, rather than a personal friend.