Does an Introduction of a Person in a Group by a Robot Have a Positive Effect on People's Communication?

摘要

lack of social relationships has become a significant issue in modern society. A robot is expected to enhance communication between people by introducing each person using knowledge of the person which the robot has obtained through interactions on their daily life. Therefore, we need to clarify what kind of behavior is required when a robot interacts with a group of people in such a situation. The goal of this paper is to reveal the kind of communication that occurs between a group of people new to each other if a robot introduces each person. We conducted an experiment in which two robots communicated with 14 people (7 children and 7 adults) from 5 families in the following situation. First, the robots asked each person a simple question about their person or daily life. Then, all the people and the two robots gathered together. The two robots started chatting, including an introduction of each person. Based on the video coding and questionnaires, we found that the robots generated an opportunity for people new to each other to learn about each other. Furthermore, we discuss the design requirements of the robot behavior to enhance communication between people new to each other through the introduction of each person by a robot.