15. Attitude Change Induced by Different Appearances of Interaction Agents

Human–robot interaction studies have thus far been limited to simple tasks, such as route guidance or playing simple games. However, with the advance in robotic technologies, the stage has been reached where the requirements for highly complicated tasks, such as conducting humanlike conversations, should be explored. When robots start to play advanced roles in our lives, such as in health care, attributes such as the trust and reliance of the person and the persuasiveness of the robot also become important. In this study, we examined the effect of the appearance of robots on people’s attitudes toward them. Past studies have shown that the appearance of robots is one of the elements that influence people’s behavior. However, the effect of the robots appearance on a person when conducting serious conversations that require high-level activity remains unknown. Participants were asked to hold a discussion with teleoperated robots having various appearances, such as an android with a high similarity to a human and a humanoid robot having humanlike body parts. Through the discussion, the teleoperator attempted to persuade the participants. We examined the effect of the robots appearance on their persuasiveness, as well as on people’s behavior and their impression of the robots. A possible contribution to machine consciousness research is also discussed.