Experimental study of empathy and its behavioral indices in human-robot interaction

Abstract

Similar to relationships between humans, a person desiring to form a good relationship with a robot needs to be able to empathize with it. However, the specific kinds of human-robot interactions that would arouse and enhance empathy for the robot in the user's mind have not yet been clarified. In addition, the human behavioral traits that may be regarded as indices of empathy have not been investigated extensively. In an attempt to address these two issues, a preliminary experiment on empathy in human-robot interaction is conducted. The results suggest that the actions of naming or comforting a robot could contribute to enhancing its user's empathy and that eye fixation could be used as an index of empathy even when the use of a subjective index is inconclusive.