Robots can play a role in mediating human group interactions.This study examines how robot gestures affect the perception of a human group member's personality, role in the group, and contribution.In a vignette study (n=96), participants imagined being in a group discussion and watched a short video of another group member presenting an argument.In one condition (affirmative gesture), a robot nodded while the member spoke; in the other, it shook its head (negating gesture).A control condition featured no robot.The affirmative gesture enhanced perceptions of the speaker's personality and role in the group, though their contribution was not affected.The negating gesture showed no adverse effects.Additionally, participants perceived the robot as a group member when it nodded but as an onlooker when it shook its head.This suggests that positive robot gestures can improve group dynamics by fostering favorable interpersonal perceptions.

To adapt to specific places and people, robots must recognize objects, which are typically taught by users-a tedious process.Inspired by anecdotes of positive teaching experiences shared by educators, sports coaches, and animal trainers, we developed seven experience-driven ways to make teaching a robot more engaging.For example, one interaction involved the robot prompting users to tell personal stories about the objects.A video vignette study (N=184) showed that experience-driven teaching was perceived as more positive than the current technology-driven teaching.Participants reported feeling more competent, connected to the robot, and valued.Additionally, the robot was perceived as more extroverted, open, agreeable, and conscientious.Overall, the experience-driven design of teaching interactions enhanced engagement and persistence by fostering reciprocal exchange and mutual understanding.In addition, the study lends support to an anecdotal approach to designing positive experiences through technology.

This paper explores how a gesture-based robot influences human-human interaction in group ideation. The robot was mounted on a whiteboard and responded with six different gestures (e.g., nodding, following speakers with gaze) to specific situations. We coded the participants’ interactions from videos and gathered their experience through post-session interviews. The most frequently invoked robot behavior was following the speaker with gaze. As a result, participants felt socio-emotionally supported and responded by moving the ideation ahead (individual level) and consensus-building (group level). In fact, the groups with the robot showed more consensus-building than the two reference groups without the robot. Participants had different views on the role of the robot in the group, such as active outsider, supportive group member, or assistant. The latter tried to use the robot as decision-support. All in all, to include a robot to mediate human groups seems a promising future application domain.