How Should Robots Hug?

2017

Master Thesis

hi

A hug is one of the most basic ways humans can express affection. As hugs are so common, a natural progression of robot development is to have robots one day hug humans as seamlessly as these intimate human-human interactions occur. This project’s purpose is to evaluate human responses to different robot hugging techniques and behaviors. Specifically, we aim to test the hypothesis that a warm, soft, touch-sensitive PR2 humanoid robot can provide humans with satisfying hugs by matching both their hugging pressure and their hugging duration. Thirty participants experienced and evaluated twelve hugs with the robot, divided into three randomly ordered trials that focused on physical robot characteristics and nine randomly ordered trials with varied hug pressure and timing. We found that people prefer soft, warm hugs over hard, cold hugs. Furthermore, users prefer hugs that physically squeeze them and release immediately when they are ready for the hug to end. When comparing responses to a survey taken at the start and end of the hugging session, we found that after the experiment users felt significantly more understood by the robot, trusted it more, and thought it was easier to use than they initially anticipated.

@mastersthesis{Block-M-Hug,
  title = {How Should Robots Hug?},
  author = {Block, Alexis E.},
  school = {University of Pennsylvania},
  month = may,
  year = {2017},
  note = {Robotics Degree Program},
  doi = {},
  month_numeric = {5}
}