Task Influence on Perceptions of a Person-Following Robot and Following-Angle Preferences

Abstract

To improve the design of a person-following robot, this preliminary study evaluates the influence of user tasks on human preferences of the robot's following angle and human perceptions of the robot's behavior. 32 participants were followed by a robot at three different following angles twice, once with an auditory task and once with a visual task, for a total of six walking trials. Results indicate that the type of user task influences participant preferences and perceptions. For the auditory task, as the following angle increased, participants were more satisfied with the robot's following behavior. For the visual task, as the following angle increased, participants were less satisfied with the robot's following behavior. In addition, participants were more perceptive of the robot's following behavior for the auditory task compared to the visual task. Additional research is required to better understand whether human preferences and perceptions depend on task modality or task complexity.