Hand Gestures and Verbal Acknowledgments Improve Human-Robot Rapport

Enhancing the rapport between the human and the robot will be an essential element in successfully developing robotic assistants, especially ones working in our homes. We use a personality survey task to assess how humans initially perceive rapport between themselves and a robot. Robots administering the survey presented relational behaviors designed to improve human-robot rapport. Participants preferred it when the robot provided verbal acknowledgments or was more engaging, such as when the robot supplemented its speech with iconic gestures.

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