A case study in designing trustworthy interactions: implications for socially assistive robotics

Abstract

This work is a case study in applying recent, high-level ethical guidelines, specifically concerning transparency and anthropomorphisation, to Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) design practice for a real-world Socially Assistive Robot (SAR) application. We utilize an online study to investigate how the perception and efficacy of SARs might be influenced by this design practice, examining how robot utterances and display manipulations influence perceptions of the robot and the medical recommendations it gives. Our results suggest that applying transparency policies can improve the SAR's effectiveness without harming its perceived anthropomorphism. However, our objective measures suggest participant understanding of the robot's decision-making process remained low across conditions. Furthermore, verbal anthropomorphisation does not seem to affect the perception or efficacy of the robot.