Designing robots with relationships in mind

Abstract

Relationships are crucial for human existence. People form relationships with other humans, pets, objects, and places. We argue that the nature of human-SAR (Socially assistive robot) relationship changes by context of use and interaction level. Therefore, context and interaction must be incorporated into the design requirements. Earlier studies identified design-related preference differences among users, depending on their personal characteristics and on their role in specific contexts. To align the robotic visual qualities (VQ) with users' expectations, we propose two human-SAR relationship models: context-based model- Situational based model and interaction-based model- Dynamic based model. Together with the VQ's evaluation, these models aim to guide industrial designers in the design process of new SARs. An evaluation method and preliminary findings are presented.