Robots in Need: Acquiring Assistance with Emotion

Abstract

There will always be occasions where robots require assistance from humans. Understanding what motivates people to help a robot, and what effect this interaction has on an individual will be essential in successfully integrating robots into our society. Emotions are important in motivating prosocial behavior between people, and therefore may also play a large role in human-robot interaction. This research explores the role of emotion in motivating people to help a robot and some of the ethical issues that arise as a result, with the ultimate aim of developing suitable methods for robots to interact with humans to acquire assistance.