Impact of Distance and Movement Speed on the Acceptance of Human-Robot Interaction – Method and First Evaluation

Abstract

The number of scenarios where an interaction between humans and robots is part of the everyday life increased constantly during the last years. Therefore, it is important to focus on a good interaction between both parts, the humans and the robots, as well as the absence of negative emotions. Especially, emotions like fear and anxiety are of great interest. The presented study focuses on a first concept of measuring these emotions and the acceptance through a multidimensional approach. A simple handover task was chosen for the collaboration. Different motion speeds of the robot as well as distances between the robot and the human were considered. Moreover, the impact of two different interaction heights, at face level or at chest level, was examined. In addition to the subjective assessment of the participants, psychophysiological parameters (cardiovascular and electrodermal activity) were recorded during the human-robot interaction. The concept was first evaluated with a number of four participants, limited by governmental restrictions due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation. The results proof the success of the chosen procedure.