Designing Robots for Well-being: Theoretical Background and Visual Scenes of Affectionate Play with a Small Humanoid Robot

Abstract

Social well-being, referring to a subjectively perceived long-term state of happiness, life satisfaction, health, and other prosperity afforded by social interactions, is increasingly being employed to rate the success of human social systems. Although short-term changes in well-being can be difficult to measure directly, two important determinants can be assessed: perceived enjoyment and affection from relationships. The current article chronicles our work over several years toward achieving enjoyable and affectionate interactions with robots, with the aim of contributing to the perception of social well-being in interacting persons. Emphasis has been placed on both describing in detail the theoretical basis underlying our work, and relating the story of each of several designs from idea to evaluation in a visual fashion. For the latter, we trace the course of designing four different robotic artifacts intended to further our understanding of how to provide enjoyment, elicit affection, and realize one specific scenario for affectionate play. As a result, by describing (a) how perceived enjoyment and affection contribute to social well-being, and (b) how a small humanoid robot can proactively engage in enjoyable and affectionate play—recognizing people’s behavior and leveraging this knowledge—the current article informs the design of companion robots intended to facilitate a perception of social well-being in interacting persons during affectionate play.