Exploring social cues and engagement in humanoid robots : a Robosen K1 case study

Abstract

With the increase adoption of humanoid robots in today's world, the need to understand the ways through which these robots communicate social cues has become indispensable for effective human-robot interaction (HRI) in everyday life. The focus of this study is on the examination of the influence of non-verbal behaviour of Robosen K1 (a humanoid robots) on human perceptions and emotional responses. K1 was programmed to perform expressive full-body movements, due its lack of facial expressions, such as dancing, push-ups, and standing on its head. The research design was a mixed-method approach, which combined behavioural observations from live interactions with data from an online survey. Findings from the study revealed positive emotional reactions from participants, most of which described the robot as " impressive, " " curious, " and " amusing. " Also, results indicated that 89.8% of participants were favourably disposed to engaging with similar robots in the future. Finally, it was found that the robot's gestures, being highly expressive, contributed to perceived personality traits such as " playful " and " friendly. " The study, therefore, concluded that a well-designed non-verbal cues would play critical role in enhancing emotional connection, engagement, and trust in humanoid robots, hence, their importance for successful HRI design