Sociable Robot ‘Lometh’: Exploring Interactive Regions of a Product-Promoting Robot in a Supermarket

Nethmini Thilakshi Weerawarna; Udaka  Manawadu; P. Ravindra S. De Silva

doi:10.5614/itbj.ict.res.appl.2023.17.1.5

Authors

Nethmini T. Weerawarna Department of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Technology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Udaka A. Manawadu Robot Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Aizu, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, Japan
P. Ravindra S. De Silva Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5614/itbj.ict.res.appl.2023.17.1.5

Keywords:

attention shifting, communication robot, human-robot communication, interpersonal distance, peripheral field of view

Abstract

The robot ?Lometh? is an information-presenting robot that naturally interacts with people in a supermarket environment. In recent years, considerable effort has been devoted to the implementation of robotic interfaces to identify effective behaviors of communication robots focusing only on the social and physical factors of the addresser and the hearer. As attention focus and attention target shifting of people differs based on the human visual focus and the spatiality, this study considered four interactive regions, considering the visual focus of attention as well as the interpersonal space between robot and human. The collected primary data revealed that 56% attention shifts occurred in near peripheral field of view regions and 44% attention shifts in far peripheral field of view regions. Using correspondence analysis, we identified that the bodily behaviors of the robot showed the highest success rate in the left near peripheral field of view region. The verbal behaviors of the robot captured human attention best in the right near peripheral field of view region. In this experiment of finding a socially acceptable way to accomplish the attention attracting goals of a communication robot, we observed that the robots? affective behaviors were successful in shifting human attention towards itself in both left and right far- peripheral field of view regions, so we concluded that for far field of view regions, designing similar interaction interventions can be expected to be successful.

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