Colleague or Tool? Interactivity Increases Positive Perceptions of and Willingness to Interact with a Robotic Co-worker

摘要

Human-robot interaction is increasingly likely in workplaces in the near future. In "co-working" relationships, humans may appreciate socially interactive robots for their anthropomorphic likeability, or functional robots for their strict task orientation. The current study examines the comparative perceived advantages of robots that behave interactively or functionally towards humans during a task with a superordinate goal. Survey results from 33 participants assessed perceptions of, and perceived cooperation with, robots during the task. Results indicated that participants stood physically closer to and rated Interactive robots as more anthropomorphic, sympathetic, and respected than Functional robots, but they did not rate the two types of robots differently in terms of cooperation. The more participants anthropomorphized, sympathized with, and respected the robots, the more willingness they reported to working with robots in the future.