This study examines user experience evolution across three repeated interactions with an on-screen NAO robot designed to express artificial empathy through verbal communication and music. The participant numbers across the three interactions were N1 = 139, N2 = 129, and N3 = 121, respectively, with 121 participants completing all sessions. During interaction, the robot gave empathic feedback and/or played music to the participant as a token of empathy. Repeated measures MANCOVA and Structural Equation Modeling revealed that initial bonding tendencies and perceptions of the robot trying to be empathetic faded over time. In its place, a tendency emerged of the robot becoming more personally relevant and remarkably, its design appeared to become more realistic, like a human being. When the robot merely tried empathetic conversation or just played music, participants were disappointed about its capabilities, visible in increased levels of negative valence. Bonding and perceived empathy flourished when the robot played music while talking empathically in chorus, a mutual reinforcement effect. At first, for the loneliest individuals, the mere presence of the robot, rather than its empathic behaviors, was more influential in determining the robot’s relevance to their concerns. These results underscore the importance of a multimodal approach in designing empathic robots.

Design of Artificial Intelligence and robotics habitually assumes that adding more humanlike features improves the user experience, mainly kept in check by suspicion of uncanny effects. Three strands of theorizing are brought together for the first time and empirically put to the test: Media Equation (and in its wake, Computers Are Social Actors), Uncanny Valley theory, and as an extreme of human-likeness assumptions, the Singularity. We measured the user experience of real-life visitors of a number of seminars who were checked in either by Smart Dynamics’ Iwaa, Hanson's Sophia robot, Sophia's on-screen avatar, or a human assistant. Results showed that human-likeness was not in appearance or behavior but in attributed qualities of being alive. Media Equation, Singularity, and Uncanny hypotheses were not confirmed. We discuss the imprecision in theorizing about human-likeness and rather opt for machines that ‘function adequately.’

Young adults undergoing psychological changes are particularly vulnerable. Recent social isolation impedes interpersonal help while stress from family, school, work, and society has brought negative effects on mental health, even in otherwise healthy young adults. Recent research has shown that daily creativity contributes to well-being. To circumvent issues of contamination, we tried a NAO robot guiding a Loving-kindness Meditation (LKM) and Walking Meditation (WM). By improving mental states (i.e. positive valence and state openness), we stimulated creative behavior to reduce negative mood. Participants (N = 142) were healthy individuals, aged between 18 and 34, joining a one-time laboratory experiment. They responded to two rounds of questionnaires, with a 10-minute intervention guided by audio or a NAO robot in between each round. A control group with participants with no treatment (i.e. taking a 10-minute rest) was added for comparison. Both audio-guided LKM and WM successfully evoked state openness, with the former also exerting a positive effect on valence. Valence and state openness were positively correlated, and both were associated with a higher willingness to create. With positive valence, young adults likely perform better on convergent thinking. The result may potentially lead to negative mood reduction. The discussion emphasizes the importance of designing specific characteristics of social robots in accordance with the task's context.