Journal of ICT Research and Applications
Vol. 17 No. 1 (2023)

Sociable Robot ‘Lometh’: Exploring Interactive Regions of a Product-Promoting Robot in a Supermarket

Nethmini Thilakshi Weerawarna (Department of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Technology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka)
Udaka Manawadu (Robot Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Aizu, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, Japan)
P. Ravindra S. De Silva (Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka)



Article Info

Publish Date
28 Apr 2023

Abstract

The robot ‘Lometh’ is an information-presenting robot that naturally interacts with people in a supermarket environment. In recent years, considerable effort has been devoted to the implementation of robotic interfaces to identify effective behaviors of communication robots focusing only on the social and physical factors of the addresser and the hearer. As attention focus and attention target shifting of people differs based on the human visual focus and the spatiality, this study considered four interactive regions, considering the visual focus of attention as well as the interpersonal space between robot and human. The collected primary data revealed that 56% attention shifts occurred in near peripheral field of view regions and 44% attention shifts in far peripheral field of view regions. Using correspondence analysis, we identified that the bodily behaviors of the robot showed the highest success rate in the left near peripheral field of view region. The verbal behaviors of the robot captured human attention best in the right near peripheral field of view region. In this experiment of finding a socially acceptable way to accomplish the attention attracting goals of a communication robot, we observed that the robots’ affective behaviors were successful in shifting human attention towards itself in both left and right far- peripheral field of view regions, so we concluded that for far field of view regions, designing similar interaction interventions can be expected to be successful.

Copyrights © 2023






Journal Info

Abbrev

jictra

Publisher

Subject

Computer Science & IT

Description

Journal of ICT Research and Applications welcomes full research articles in the area of Information and Communication Technology from the following subject areas: Information Theory, Signal Processing, Electronics, Computer Network, Telecommunication, Wireless & Mobile Computing, Internet ...