Abstract
We introduce Pepita, a caricatured huggable robot capable of sensing and conveying affective expressions by means of tangible gesture recognition and projected avatars. This study covers the design criteria, implementation and performance evaluation of the different characteristics of the form and function of this robot. The evaluation involves: (1) the exploratory study of the different features of the device, (2) design and performance evaluation of sensors for affective interaction employing touch, and (3) design and implementation of affective feedback using projected avatars. Results showed that the hug detection worked well for the intended application and the affective expressions made with projected avatars were appropriated for this robot. The questionnaires analyzing users’ perception provide us with insights to guide the future designs of similar interfaces.
Highlights
Social robots are designed to communicate and to engage in social interaction with humans.They can recognize, follow and react to humans action in social contexts
We explored an alternative method to represent affective expressions visually by the robotic device
Based on the answers obtained from the questionnaire, we attempted to answer three questions related to this robotic device
Summary
Social robots are designed to communicate and to engage in social interaction with humans. They can recognize, follow and react to humans action in social contexts. Different from robots, social robots combine functional and social characteristics. One of the challenges involves the design of social robots for home environments that can communicate with and assist humans in everyday life situations. These types of social robots are commonly known as companion robots. Companion robots assist users in everyday tasks through an intuitive, expressive and affective interaction [1]
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