Differences between Young and Old Users when Interacting with a Humanoid Robot

摘要

There is a growing body of knowledge on how people interact with robots, but limited information on the difference between young and old adults in their preferences when interacting with humanoid robots. Our goals in the current study were: (1) to investigate the difference between age groups in how they relate to a humanoid robot, and (2) to test whether they prefer an interaction with the robot over an interaction with a computer screen. Thirty old adults and 30 young adults took part in two experiments, where they were asked to complete a cognitive-motor task. Both old and young adults reported they enjoyed the interaction with the robot as they found it engaging and fun, and preferred the embodied robot over the non-embodied computer screen. We found that a slow response time of the robot had a negative influence on user's perception of the robot, and their motivation to continue interacting with it.