Designing domestic robots with personality

Abstract

Research has shown that robots tend to induce the perception of personality through their behaviour and appearance. It has therefore been suggested that the concept of personality can be used as a guiding principle for designing the interface and interactions with robotic appliances. A well-defined and clearly communicated personality can assist users to form a mental model of the robot and facilitate their interactions with it. But this raises questions about what kind of personality to design for a robot and how to express this personality in its behaviour? A design process is described that supports the development and evaluation of personality profiles and expressive behaviour for robotic products. The process is explained with examples for a domestic robot.