Social RoboticsToy-like robot beats humanoid as a workplace wellbeing coach in Cambridge study
Staff at a tech firm felt a better connection with the small Misty II robot than with the childlike QTRobot when guided through wellbeing exercises.
University of Cambridge researchers ran a four-week study in which 26 employees at a technology company took weekly positive psychology sessions led by a robot. Both robots used the same voice, expressions and script, so the only difference was their form. Participants paired with the toy-like Misty II reported a stronger working relationship than those with the more humanoid QTRobot, which the team linked to people expecting more human-like conversation from a humanoid. The work, presented at the HRI 2023 conference in Stockholm, also found people wanted less scripted interaction, and the authors suggested large language models could help.
Source: University of Cambridge
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