To beep or not to beep is not the whole question

Abstract

In this paper, we address social effects of different mechanisms by means of which a robot can signal a person that it wants to pass. In the situation investigated, the robot attempts to pass by a busy, naïve participant who is blocking the way for the robot. The robot is a relatively large service robot, the Care-o-bot. Since speech melody has been found to fulfill social functions in human interactions, we investigate whether there is a difference in perceived politeness of the robot if the robot uses a beep sequence with rising versus with falling intonation, in comparison with no acoustic signal at all. The results of the experimental study (n=49) shows that approaching the person with a beep makes people more comfortable than without any sound, and that rising intonation contours make people feel more at ease than falling contours, especially women, who rate the robot that uses rising intonation contours as friendlier and warmer. The exact form of robot output thus matters.