Exploring Beyond the Exhibits

Abstract

Technological advancements are integrating social robots into public spaces. The scientific community has consequently become aware that relying on laboratory studies may not be the best approach to developing (social) robots, particularly when they are meant to interact with humans. Studies of human- robot interaction in real-world settings, such as museums, are deemed more beneficial in under- standing the complexities of these interactions (Sabanovic et al. 2006). Our goal in conducting this study was thus to better understand the requirements with respect to social robots in public spaces and to make them as representative of real-world conditions as possible by drawing on actual users, systems, and environments for real-world tasks. Our analysis of user utterances offers insights into identifying user expectations as well as system limitations and weaknesses that can be addressed through further development and training.