An Analysis of Preference for Nonverbal Communication Methods of Social Robots
AUTHORS
Youngsang Kim,Yonsei Institute of Language and information studies, Yonsei University, South Korea
Hoonsik Yoo*,Department of Newmedia, Seoul Media Institute of Technology, South Korea
ABSTRACT
This study comparatively examined users' preferences for social robots' nonverbal expressions. An online survey was conducted to measure users' acceptance of feedback types such as gestures, lights, facial expressions, verbal sounds, and nonverbal sounds; a total of 74 respondents (30 men and 44 women) in their 20s and 30s participated in the survey. The results of survey data analysis revealed that users most preferred verbal sounds, which is a mix of nonverbal communication and verbal communication, followed by lights and nonverbal sounds. This shows that while existing social robots mainly use facial expressions or gestures to express emotions, users prefer sounds or lights to a significantly higher level than facial expressions or gestures. Based on the results, this paper proposes to utilize the visualization method of webtoons and emoticons, which use sounds and lights, as a method of expressing the emotions of social robots. Besides, given a high preference for lights, it is expected that it will be effective to empathize with users' emotions by adjusting the brightness of the robot's eyes or face. Also, it is expected that a social robot with an emotional expression function that satisfies the user's preference will be born if new research and development are carried out in a way that considers people's demographic characteristics along with the technical aspect based on the results of this study.
KEYWORDS
Nonverbal communication, Social robot, Gesture