Cross-cultural study on human-robot greeting interaction: acceptance and discomfort by Egyptians and Japanese

Gabriele Trovato,Salvatore Sessa,Jaap Ham,Massimiliano Zecca,Atsuo Takanishi,Kenji Hashimoto,Lorenzo Jamone

doi:10.2478/pjbr-2013-0006

Abstract

AbstractAs witnessed in several behavioural studies, a complex relationship exists between people’s cultural background and their general acceptance towards robots. However, very few studies have investigated whether a robot’s original language and gesture based on certain culture have an impact on the people of the different cultures. The purpose of this work is to provide experimental evidence which supports the idea that humans may accept more easily a robot that can adapt to their specific culture. Indeed, improving acceptance and reducing discomfort is fundamental for future deployment of robots as assistive, health-care or companion devices into a society. We conducted a Human- Robot Interaction experiment both in Egypt and in Japan. Human subjects were engaged in a simulated video conference with robots that were greeting and speaking either in Arabic or in Japanese. The subjects completed a questionnaire assessing their preferences and their emotional state, while their spontaneous reactions were recorded in different ways. The results suggest that Egyptians prefer the Arabic robot, while they feel a sense of discomfort when interacting with the Japanese robot; the opposite is also true for the Japanese. These findings confirm the importance of the localisation of a robot in order to improve human acceptance during social human-robot interaction.

Highlights

Subjects of the two nationalities participated to a simulated video conference with two robots which performed greetings and a self introduction, respectively using Arabic and Japanese gestures and way of speaking
The purpose of this work was to prove that a robot that can adapt to the verbal and non-verbal communication styles of a specific culture may make a better impression and reduce discomfort of human subjects
Results suggested the existence of difference in perception between Egyptians and Japanese, as the former prefer the Arabic version of the robot and experience several symptoms of discomfort when interacting with the Japanese version

Summary

Introduction

According to the traditional view in literature, such anxiety is in part caused by popular fictional stories in which robots have negative connotations (e.g. Frankenstein, Terminator), at least in Western countries. This complex seems to be absent in Japan, where robots are viewed more like helpers or heroes. As a matter of fact, differences between East and West in cognition, due to differing ecologies, social structures, philosophies, and educational systems, trace back to ancient Greece and China [9] Drawing from these considerations, Kaplan suggested that “...in the Western world machines are very important for understanding what we are. Robotic heroes in science fiction are present in Western culture as well, like the “cute, personable and highly marketable robots” of Star Wars [12], and some Japanese comics are influenced by western science fiction [13]

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