Influencing Incidental Human-Robot Encounters: Expressive movement improves pedestrians’ impressions of a quadruped service robot

This research from the University of Texas at Austin explores how body language in quadruped service robots influences incidental human-robot encounters. The study used a Boston Dynamics Spot robot and found that when the robot’s movements were modified to mimic canine behavior, people’s perceptions of the robot improved. The researchers argue that adjusting a robot’s body language could be a practical way to enhance interactions between pedestrians and service robots in public spaces.

Publication date: 8 Nov 2023
Project Page: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.04454
Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.04454