A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…The effects of narration and appearance on the perception of robots

Abstract

First evidence suggests that introducing robots by means of a narrative story can lead to more positive interactions and evaluations [1]. It is unclear whether this positive framing of robots by narratives works equally for different robot design approaches and appearances. To address this open question we conducted 2×6 between-subjects online experiment and varied the introduction (narrative vs. instruction manual) and appearance of the robot (6 different robot appearances). We replicated previous results on evaluation effects for different robot appearances. Results indicate that robots introduced by a narrative story were evaluated as being more likable, intelligent, autonomous, and humanlike. They were also perceived to be less mechanical and less uncanny. However, there were no interaction effects between narration and robot appearance suggesting that narration is beneficial for robots regardless of their appearance and hence is a strong mechanism to shape positive expectations before actually interacting with a robot.