Age-Old Gesture: Analyzing the Intuitive Responses to Robot Handshakes Among Seniors and Young Adults

Marieke Van Otterdijk, Dongho Kwak, Adel Baselizadeh, Diana Saplacan Lindblom, Jim Torresen

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Successfully implementing robots to support senior adults requires their acceptance. Leveraging nonverbal communication could enhance the ease and intuitiveness of accepting robot assistance. However, it is essential to see how different age groups understand nonverbal communication cues to understand the dynamics between different user groups and assistive robots. Our research specifically delves into the intuitive understanding of handshaking gestures across multiple interactions, focusing on seniors (between 70 and 97) and young (21 and 26) adults. Through a combination of observations and open-ended surveys, we conducted a video observation and thematic analysis. Interestingly, our findings indicate no significant differences between the two age groups, except for reactions and interaction time variables. Furthermore, we report on possible motivations behind the initial reactions in the two age groups, familiarity, and ways to improve the overall Human-Robot Interaction experience potentially.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication33rd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, ROMAN 2024
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages1156-1161
ISBN (Electronic)9798350375022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes
Event33rd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, ROMAN 2024 - Pasadena, United States
Duration: 26 Aug 202430 Aug 2024

Publication series

NameIEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication, RO-MAN
ISSN (Print)1944-9445
ISSN (Electronic)1944-9437

Conference

Conference33rd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, ROMAN 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPasadena
Period26/08/2430/08/24

Funding

The authors express their gratitude to all the participants for their involvement in this study. We express our gratitude to the senior adult activity center in Norway for their warm reception and assistance during the execution of our experiments. Furthermore, we thank The Research Council of Norway (RCN) for supporting the Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion (PIRC) project under grant agreement no. 312333, Vulnerability in the Robot Society (VIROS) Project under Grant Agreement No. 288285 and through its Centres of Excellence scheme, RITMO with Project No. 262762.

FundersFunder number
Robot Society
Norges forskningsråd312333
Norges forskningsråd
VIROS262762, 288285

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