Abstract
Recent developments in conversational technologies have attracted researchers to study their applications in recommending items through conversations. It is considered that physical robots, rather than virtual ones, are effective in situations in which robots talk about items near participants. However, in real situations, robots may be required to recommend items that are present but invisible in the scene of the communication. In this study, we conducted a field experiment in a shopping mall to investigate the effects of robot embodiment on recommendation tasks. The robots recommended a dish after talking to participants about their food preferences. We developed a conversational recommendation system and implemented it using physical and virtual robots. The field experiment was conducted in a shopping mall; the visitors were encouraged to participate. The experiment lasted a total of 99 hours (9 hours per day for 11 days) inside and in front of a food court. Although no significant difference in the behavioral aspect was confirmed, the results obtained from 272 conversations suggested that having physical bodies enhanced the satisfaction and agreement with the robots’ recommendations.
Highlights
R ECENTLY, conversational robots that provide advanced information, such as recommendations, have been developed [1]–[3]
Most studies reported that physical robots are more attractive, persuasive, and positive than virtual ones, whereas some studies showed the opposite results in certain situations
We investigated the embodiment of robots in a shopping mall
Summary
R ECENTLY, conversational robots that provide advanced information, such as recommendations, have been developed [1]–[3]. These robots can provide sophisticated services while understanding the user’s feelings and background. Recent surveys have summarized studies concerning the differences between physical and virtual robots [6], [7]. According to these surveys, most studies reported that physical robots are more attractive, persuasive, and positive than virtual ones, whereas some studies showed the opposite results in certain situations. One study showed that physical robots are effective
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