Following to Talk: Effects of Mobile Robot Guidance on Dialogue Motivation in a Field Trial
Masaya Iwasaki, Kazuki Masuda, Kazuki Sakai, Midori Ban, Zihao Chi, Megumi Kawata, Alexis Meneses, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Yuichiro Yoshikawa
AI summary
Problem
While nonverbal cues and dialogue strategies are well-studied for promoting human-robot interaction, the psychological impact of a robot's physical movement on user engagement remains unclear. This study investigates whether guiding a person to a stationary dialogue robot enhances their willingness to converse.
Approach
Researchers conducted a field experiment in a shopping mall where visitors either followed a mobile robot to a stationary dialogue robot or approached the stationary robot directly. Dialogue duration and subjective motivation were measured and compared across conditions.
Key results
- Guided participants engaged in significantly longer dialogues with the stationary robot
- No significant difference in subjective motivation scores between guided and non-guided conditions
- Guided travel distance showed no correlation with dialogue duration or motivation
- Pre-dialogue motivation to interact was equivalent across both conditions
Why it matters
Findings demonstrate that leveraging robot mobility to induce physical commitment can effectively boost interaction duration, informing the design of socially deployed mobile service robots.
Abstract
Since robots are often disregarded in public interactions, many studies have examined how nonverbal cues and dialogue strategies encourage users to initiate engagement. However, the impact of robot “movement” remains insufficiently investigated. This study examined the psychological effects of movement behavior on willingness to engage in dialogue in a scenario where a mobile guide robot leads people to a stationary robot. A field experiment in a shopping mall showed that guidance by a mobile robot significantly increased dialogue duration, whereas no correlation was found between moving distance and willingness to engage. These results suggest that physical commitment induced by guided movement may enhance user motivation, and that interaction designs leveraging movement behavior may be important for advancing the social implementation of interactive robots.