Effect of Wait Time on Trust and Reliance in Human-Robot Interaction

Abstract

The design of trust is a critical issue in human-robot interaction (HRI). This study investigated how waiting time for a robot's action affects trust and reliance on a robot. In Experiment 1, an online study manipulated the wait time for the task partner's action from 1 to 20 seconds. The results confirmed that participants' trust and reliance were influenced by the wait time, with tolerance observed for waiting 16 to 20 seconds for a robot action. Experiment 2 aimed to verify the effects of waiting periods on trust and reliance in a face-to-face human-robot situation. The results confirmed the effects of waiting periods on participants' trust and reliance, highlighting that the effect of the waiting period on reliance was mediated by trust. This study showed that waiting time is a controllable factor influencing trust and reliance on a robot. A novel contribution is the demonstration that adaptive trust calibration in HRI can be induced by manipulating wait time.