Color game: a collaborative social robotic game for icebreaking; towards the design of robotic ambiences as part of smart building services

Social robots are entering our workplaces, homes, medical and educational systems in assistive and collaborative roles. In our research, we have investigated the use of a social robot Pepper as an interactive icebreaker host to create a positive atmosphere at events. This paper presents two user studies (total n=43) in which we evaluated two interactive prototypes of playful applications on Pepper, with the overall aim of providing a personal and entertaining service for event attendees. Data about users' experiences and attitudes were collected with semi-structured interviews, surveys, and observations. The results of the studies suggest that the majority of the participants had pleasurable and positive experiences with the robot and its applications. Moreover, their positive encounters led them to accept social robots as icebreaker hosts to connect with strangers. Based on our findings, we present a list of design implications to help the future design of social robots used to facilitate social connectedness, and to aid in the development of social robots as intelligent agents performing tasks as integrated parts of smart spaces.

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