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The Uncanny in the Wild. Analysis of Unscripted Human–Android Interaction in the Field

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Abstract

Against the background of the uncanny valley hypothesis we investigated how people react towards an android robot in a natural environment dependent on the behavior displayed by the robot (still vs. moving) in a quasi-experimental observational field study. We present data on unscripted interactions between humans and the android robot “Geminoid HI-1” in an Austrian public café and subsequent interviews. Data were analyzed with regard to the participants’ nonverbal behavior (e.g. attention paid to the robot, proximity). We found that participants’ behavior towards the android robot as well as their interview answers were influenced by the behavior the robot displayed. In addition, we found huge inter-individual differences in the participants’ behavior. Implications for the uncanny valley and research on social human–robot interactions are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by a doctoral fellowship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation), by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S), KAKENHI (20220002) and a post-doctoral fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Duisburg Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47048, Duisburg, Germany

    Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten & Nicole C. Krämer

  2. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 52, 79110, Freiburg, Germany

    Christian Becker-Asano

  3. Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-8531, Japan

    Kohei Ogawa & Hiroshi Ishiguro

  4. Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2 Hikaridai, Keihanna Science City, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan

    Kohei Ogawa, Shuichi Nishio & Hiroshi Ishiguro

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  1. Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten
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  2. Nicole C. Krämer
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  3. Christian Becker-Asano
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  4. Kohei Ogawa
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  5. Shuichi Nishio
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  6. Hiroshi Ishiguro
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Correspondence to Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten.

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Rosenthal-von der Pütten, A.M., Krämer, N.C., Becker-Asano, C. et al. The Uncanny in the Wild. Analysis of Unscripted Human–Android Interaction in the Field. Int J of Soc Robotics 6, 67–83 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-013-0198-7

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