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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Robot. AI
Sec. Human-Robot Interaction
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frobt.2025.1305685

Effects of gentle and rude vitality forms of social robots on humans during cognitive multitasking

Provisionally accepted
Motonobu Aoki Motonobu Aoki 1*Francesco Rea Francesco Rea 2Giuseppe Di Cesare Giuseppe Di Cesare 3Giulio Sandini Giulio Sandini 2Takura Yanagi Takura Yanagi 1ATSUSHI TAKAMATSU ATSUSHI TAKAMATSU 1Tomohiro Yamamura Tomohiro Yamamura 1
  • 1 Nissan (Japan), Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
  • 2 Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Genova, Liguria, Italy
  • 3 University of Parma, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The design of a social humanoid robot in order to improve the cognitive multitasking performance of a human being in a human-robot mixed team is not straightforward. In fact, the presence and behaviors of the robot might have at the same time beneficially or detrimentally affect on human performance. In this study, we measured the effects of different vitality forms expressed through performance and emotional state by a social humanoid robot in a cognitive multitasking activity. Human facial expression and skin conductance measurements indicated that the presence of a robot expressing the gentle vitality form created a more relaxing interaction than the presence of a robot expressing the rude vitality form. Furthermore, the gentle vitality form had a positive effect on human performance in a task that required short-term memory, and a target tracking task that required continuous focus. This study indicates that properly designing vitality forms of a social humanoid robot can improve cognitive multitasking performance in human-robot mixed teams.

    Keywords: human-robot interaction, Social Robots, vitality forms, Cognitive Multitasking, facial expressions, Mental Workload

    Received: 02 Oct 2023; Accepted: 29 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Aoki, Rea, Di Cesare, Sandini, Yanagi, TAKAMATSU and Yamamura. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Motonobu Aoki, Nissan (Japan), Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.