Long-Term Cohabitation with a Social Robot: A Case Study of the Influence of Human Attachment Patterns

Abstract

This paper presents the methodology, setup and results of a study involving long-term cohabitation with a fully autonomous social robot. During the experiment, three people with different attachment styles (as defined by John Bowlby) spent ten days each with an EMYS type robot, which was installed in their own apartments. It was hypothesized that the attachment patterns represented by the test subjects influence the interaction. In order to provide engaging and non-schematic actions suitable for the experiment requirements, the existing robot control system was modified, which allowed EMYS to become an effective home assistant. Experiment data was gathered using the robot’s state logging utility (during the cohabitation period) and in-depth interviews (after the study). Based on the analyzed data, it was concluded that the satisfaction stemming from prolonged cohabitation and the assessment of robot’s operation depend on the user’s attachment style. Results lead to first robot’s behavior personalization guidelines for different user’s attachment patterns. The study confirmed readiness of a EMYS robot for satisfying, autonomous, and long-term cohabitation with users.