“Wow He Is Talking!” A Study on Intrinsic Motivations for Child-Robotic Toy Interactions

This paper presents a study conducted to observe motivations for playful interaction of children with the prototype version of the robotic toy Ixi-play. Fourteen children from two age groups (4--5 and 8--9 year-olds) participated in the study. The features of the robotic toy that intrinsically motivate children for interaction were identified through qualitative analysis. The types of child-robotic toy interaction were revealed as: physical interaction, facial expressions, verbal communication, and visual engagement. Four factors were identified as affecting children's intrinsic motivation for an engaged interaction with robotic toys: i) evolving needs and abilities of children, ii) ease of bonding, iii) playfulness, and iv) clarity of responses and multiple feedback