Interaction of Users of Different Ages with a Service Robot: A Laboratory Study

Abstract

The article is devoted to studying human-robot interaction (HRI) using the example of user interaction with a service social robot. The study has a multi-paradigm basis in theoretical and methodological terms: the subjective users’ experience and their adaptation to a particular interaction situation with the robot are considered within social constructivism, phenomenology, and ethnomethodology. The empirical basis is laboratory research using social experiments, observation, and focus groups. The experiment participants interacted with different types of agents (a human and a service robot in different modes of operation), simulating receiving a standard state service for the execution of documents.

According to the study results, the features of the actual interaction with the service robot, as well as the subjective perception of this experience by users of different age groups, are highlighted. The study confirms the hypothesis that young users adapt more quickly to interaction with a robot, which is expressed in the speed of interaction and subjective satisfaction with this interaction. According to the estimates of the middle-aged and older study participants, it is easier for them to receive services interacting with a human consultant and, according to the estimates of young participants, with a robot (regardless of its mode of operation). Differences in expectations and assessments regarding robots at the level of general social attitudes are also highlighted. According to the results of the focus groups, the willingness to interact with robots is reduced due to distrust of the functional capabilities of the robot, lack of confidence in their competence, and fear of uncertainty (a wary attitude towards everything new).

Acknowledgements. The authors extend their sincere gratitude to Olga Alexandrovna Ganina and Yuri Mikhailovich Wasserman, esteemed members of the Department of Sociology and Political Science at PNRPU, for their invaluable assistance in conducting this study. We also express our appreciation to Promobot LLC (Perm) for their support and collaboration, which was instrumental in the successful execution of this research.