Rabble of Robots Effects: Number and Type of Robots Modulates Attitudes, Emotions, and Stereotypes

Robots are expected to become present in society in increasing numbers, yet few studies in human-robot interaction (HRI) go beyond one-to-one interaction to examine how emotions, attitudes, and stereotypes expressed toward groups of robots differ from those expressed toward individuals. Research from social psychology indicates that people interact differently with individuals than with groups. We therefore hypothesize that group effects might similarly occur when people face multiple robots. Further, group effects might vary for robots of different types. In this exploratory study, we used videos to expose participants in a between-subjects experiment to robots varying in Number (Single or Group) and Type (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, or mechanomorphic). We then measured participants' general attitudes, emotions, and stereotypes toward robots with a combination of measures from HRI (e.g., Godspeed Questionnaire, NARS) and social psychology (e.g., Big Five, Social Threat, Emotions). Results suggest that Number and Type of observed robots had an interaction effect on responses toward robots in general, leading to more positive responses for groups for some robot types, but more negative responses for others.

1. Introduction

Contemporary visions of how robots will be used in daily life include many situations in which people interact and share their space with not only one, but multiple, robots. Gates’ vision of “robots in every home” includes a Roomba, a laundry-folding robot, and a mobile assistive robot within the home, with security and lawn-mowing robots outside [1] . Field studies of robots in educational facilities have used multiple Qrio humanoids along with the Rubi platform [2] . Eldercare institutions already employ multiple seal-like PARO robots simultaneously. Researchers also suggest various uses for robotic swarms, such as modular robots that self-configure into different types of furniture [3] , small robotic vacuums that work together to reach hard-to-clean areas [4] , and robots that can help in dangerous situations. Researchers and funders alike expect that humans and robots will be able to “symbiotically coexist” and collaborate [5] , but there is little research on human interaction with groups of robots to guide the development of socially acceptable multi-robot applications.