[Paper Review] Designing Socially Assistive Robots: Exploring Israeli and German Designers' Perceptions

Ela Liberman-Pincu, Oliver Korn+3 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Apr 30, 2023

Social Robot Interaction and HRIPsychology3 citations

TL;DR

This study investigates cultural influences on Israeli and German designers' perceptions of socially assistive robot (SAR) visual design across four contexts: assisted living, hospital care, pandemic response, and domestic use. Despite shared preferences in most roles, significant cultural differences emerged in perceptions of the COVID-19 officer robot, highlighting the need to integrate cultural context into SAR design for user acceptance and functionality.

ABSTRACT

Socially assistive robots (SARs) are becoming more prevalent in everyday life, emphasizing the need to make them socially acceptable and aligned with users' expectations. Robots' appearance impacts users' behaviors and attitudes towards them. Therefore, product designers choose visual qualities to give the robot a character and to imply its functionality and personality. In this work, we sought to investigate the effect of cultural differences on Israeli and German designers' perceptions and preferences regarding the suitable visual qualities of SARs in four different contexts: a service robot for an assisted living/retirement residence facility, a medical assistant robot for a hospital environment, a COVID-19 officer robot, and a personal assistant robot for domestic use. Our results indicate that Israeli and German designers share similar perceptions of visual qualities and most of the robotics roles. However, we found differences in the perception of the COVID-19 officer robot's role and, by that, its most suitable visual design. This work indicates that context and culture play a role in users' perceptions and expectations; therefore, they should be taken into account when designing new SARs for diverse contexts.

Motivation & Objective

• To examine how cultural background influences designers' perceptions of socially assistive robot (SAR) visual qualities.
• To identify shared and divergent design preferences between Israeli and German designers for SARs in diverse application contexts.
• To investigate how cultural context shapes expectations for robot roles and corresponding visual design attributes.
• To inform culturally sensitive SAR design by analyzing differences in perceived functionality, personality, and appearance.

Proposed method

• Conducted a cross-cultural qualitative study with 16 Israeli and 16 German product designers.
• Presented four SAR scenarios: assisted living, hospital medical assistant, COVID-19 officer, and domestic personal assistant.
• Collected designers' perceptions on visual qualities such as form, color, facial features, and material to infer personality and functionality.
• Analyzed responses using thematic analysis to identify patterns and cultural differences in design preferences.
• Focused on how perceived roles influenced visual design choices, including anthropomorphism and emotional expressiveness.
• Compared responses across national groups to isolate cultural influences on design perception.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How do Israeli and German designers perceive the visual qualities of socially assistive robots in different application contexts?
• RQ2 To what extent do cultural differences influence designers' choices for robot appearance and personality in SARs?
• RQ3 Are there specific roles—such as the COVID-19 officer—where cultural perceptions of robot design significantly diverge?
• RQ4 How do perceived roles shape expectations for robot functionality and visual design attributes?

Key findings

• Israeli and German designers shared similar perceptions of visual qualities and most robot roles, indicating cross-cultural alignment in design expectations for SARs.
• Significant cultural differences emerged in the perception of the COVID-19 officer robot, with German designers favoring more formal, less expressive designs compared to Israeli designers.
• The perception of the COVID-19 officer role influenced visual design preferences, with German designers associating it with authority and neutrality, while Israeli designers favored approachability and expressiveness.
• Designers from both cultures emphasized functionality and trustworthiness, but interpreted these attributes differently based on cultural norms and contextual expectations.
• Contextual factors such as environment (e.g., hospital vs. home) significantly shaped perceptions of appropriate robot appearance and personality.
• The study confirms that culture plays a critical role in shaping user expectations for SARs, particularly in sensitive or high-stakes roles like pandemic response.