Stepped Warm-Up–The Progressive Interaction Approach for Human-Robot Interaction in Public

Abstract

Initiating interaction is one of the most basic functions of service robots, and it has a vital impact on the subsequent interaction process. In the present study, we proposed a brand-new approach to initiate interaction—the progressive interaction approach. Specifically, robots actively send social cues to potential users in a progressively enhancing manner. Based on the concept of this approach, we modeled the behavior of a robot named Xiaodu, and further validated the practical benefits of this approach in an experimental study, in which participants were asked to rate their experience after interacting with Xiaodu with different initiating strategies. The findings suggested that compared to the reactive approach, the progressive interaction approach led to stronger positive emotions (self-reported) and was perceived to be more natural and friendly. Participants also reported higher affection and higher interaction intention towards the progressive interaction approach. The study has some implications for designing robots’ behavior in the interaction initiating process.