Heart rate analysis in a conversation on video chat for development of a chat robot supporting to build a relationship

In recent years, opportunities to communicate has been decreasing by the increasing number of an elderly person who lives alone, social withdrawal of young people and so on. For the solution of this problem, a participation of the robot as a mediator of conversation between people can become a support for making a relationship. In this study, the authors experimented interactive experiment by matching pairs matched by co-occurrence and mutual assistance matching system using personal characteristics like abilities or interest. When people communicate with someone, their physiological phenomenon such as a heartbeat or breath interval occurring synchronously is observed. It is called entrainment. The authors acquired heart beats of a subject in conversation. In addition, the authors analyzed LF/HF ratio by heart rate value. For activation of heart rate synchronization, the interactive experiment was carried out by video chat and subjects could watch partner's face. As a result, the authors found that there are some portion where the transition is synchronized. Moreover, stress tended to decrease as the experiment progressed regardless of topics.