Paper ID: 2411.09299 • Published Nov 14, 2024
Hearing the Robot's Mind: Sonification for Explicit Feedback in Human-Robot Interaction
Simone Arreghini, Antonio Paolillo, Gabriele Abbate, Alessandro Giusti
TL;DR
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Social robots are required not only to understand human intentions but also
to effectively communicate their intentions or own internal states to users.
This study explores the use of sonification to provide explicit auditory
feedback, enhancing mutual understanding in HRI. We introduce a novel
sonification approach that conveys the robot's internal state, linked to its
perception of nearby individuals and their interaction intentions. The approach
is evaluated through a two-fold user study: an online video-based survey with
26 participants and live experiments with 10 participants. Results indicate
that while sonification improves the robot's expressivity and communication
effectiveness, the design of the auditory feedback needs refinement to enhance
user experience. Participants found the auditory cues useful but described the
sounds as uninteresting and unpleasant. These findings underscore the
importance of carefully designed auditory feedback in developing more effective
and engaging HRI systems.