How anthropomorphism affects empathy toward robots

Laurel D. Riek, Tal Chen Rabinowitch, Bhismadev Chakrabarti, Peter Robinson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

A long-standing question within the robotics community is about the degree of human-likeness robots ought to have when interacting with humans. We explore an unexam-ined aspect of this problem: how people empathize with robots along the anthropomorphic spectrum. We conducted an experiment that measured how people empathized with robots shown to be experiencing mistreatment by humans. Our results indicate that people empathize more strongly with more human-looking robots and less with mechanical-looking robots.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI'09
Pages245-246
Number of pages2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes
Event4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI'09 - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: 11 Mar 200913 Mar 2009

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI'09

Conference

Conference4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI'09
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period11/03/0913/03/09

Keywords

  • Experimentation
  • Human Factors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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