Animacy perception of agents: Their effects on users behavior and variability between age groups

摘要

Autonomous agents and/or robot embodiments are frequently introduced to a complex system in expectation of eliciting user behavior similar to human-human interaction with the target system. The current study examines the process and factors involved in this type of interaction. As a first step, we conducted a psychological experiment to examine animacy perception of the agent and its effects on user interaction with the system, here a microwave oven, comparing among three conditions: an embodied condition (with anthropomorphic robot features called agent triggers), a voice agent condition, and a control condition (no-agent condition). Additionally, we investigated differences between responses by age groups. Results showed two types of animacy, lifelikeness and intelligence; older and younger adults responded quite differently to the two agents conditions, which indicated that older adults placed more values on embodied agents. Hypothetical models of animacy perception in younger and older adults and their behaviors in interaction with the system implied the importance of perceived individuality of an agent and background knowledge an agent's function and abilities.