Human-robot partnership: A study on collaborative storytelling

Abstract

This paper describes the current work on using humanoid robot to augment traditional storytelling for educational and entertainment purposes in casual contexts such as home and classroom. We explore a novel method of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) for storytelling and address the question how robots may best augment storytelling. In the pilot study, a humanoid robot, Aldebaran's Nao, was programmed to recite a story to 60 students aged 14 to 15. Nao delivered the performance as either an independent storyteller, or as a collaborator with a human storyteller. We assessed the effectiveness of HRC by comparing the participants' preference over the two settings. We found that 1) most participants prefer HRC over the robot-only performance (RO) and considered HRC effective; and 2) the preference in HRC is explained by the complementary strengths of the robot and human storyteller in interacting with the participants. These results, provide a first step towards effective use of robots for collaborative storytelling in daily situations.