Analyzing the Impact of Responding to Joint Attention on the User Perception of the Robot in Human-Robot Interaction

The concept of joint attention holds significant importance in human interaction and is pivotal in establishing rapport, understanding, and effective communication. Within social robotics, enhancing user perception of the robot and promoting a sense of natural interaction with robots becomes a central element. In this sense, emulating human-centric qualities in social robots, such as joint attention, defined as the ability of two or more individuals to focus on a common event simultaneously, can increase their acceptability. This study analyses the impact on user perception of a responsive joint attention system integrated into a social robot within an interactive scenario. The experimental setup involves playing against the robot in the “Odds and Evens” game under two conditions: whether the joint attention system is active or inactive. Additionally, auditory and visual distractors are employed to simulate real-world distractions, aiming to test the system’s ability to capture and follow user attention effectively. To assess the influence of the joint attention system, participants completed the Robotic Social Attributes Scale (RoSAS) after each interaction. The results showed a significant improvement in user perception of the robot’s competence and warmth when the joint attention system was active.