Bond formation with pet-robots: an integrative approach

The challenge of long-term interaction between humans and robots is still a bottleneck in service robot research. To gain an understanding of sustained relatedness with robots, this study proposes a conceptual framework for bond formation. More specifically, it addresses the dynamics of children bon...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Díaz Boladeras, Marta|||0000-0001-8215-0499
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/375601
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/375601
https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03792-7
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Personal robotics
Human-robot interaction
Child-Robot interaction
Bonding
Robotic pets
Companion robots
Attachment
Robot-based intervention
Robòtica personal
Interacció persona-robot
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Robòtica
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Sistemes d'informació::Interacció home-màquina
Descripción
Sumario:The challenge of long-term interaction between humans and robots is still a bottleneck in service robot research. To gain an understanding of sustained relatedness with robots, this study proposes a conceptual framework for bond formation. More specifically, it addresses the dynamics of children bonding with robotic pets as the basis for certain services in healthcare and education. The framework presented herein offers an integrative approach and draws from theoretical models and empirical research in Human Robot Interaction and also from related disciplines that investigate lasting relationships, such as human-animal affiliation and attachment to everyday objects. The research question is how children’s relatedness to personified technologies occurs and evolves and what underpinning processes are involved. The subfield of research is child-robot interaction, within the boundaries of social psychology, where the robot is viewed as a social agent, and human-system interaction, where the robot is regarded as an artificial entity. The proposed framework envisions bonding with pet-robots as a socio-affective process towards lasting connectedness and emotional involvement that evolves through three stages: first encounter, short-term interaction and lasting relationship. The stages are characterized by children’s behaviors, cognitions and feelings that can be identified, measured and, maybe more importantly, managed. This model aims to integrate fragmentary and heterogeneous knowledge into a new perspective on the impact of robots in close and enduring proximity to children.