Small group interactions with voice-user interfaces: Exploring social embodiment, rapport, and engagement
Name
3434073.3444655.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
3.34 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
c782778f411e033be92f86caadb437a0
Author(s)
Ostrowski, AK
Zygouras, V
Park, HW
Breazeal, C
Date Issued
2021
Journal
ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
Publisher
ACM
Citation
Ostrowski, AK, Zygouras, V, Park, HW and Breazeal, C. 2021. "Small group interactions with voice-user interfaces: Exploring social embodiment, rapport, and engagement." ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
More and more voice-user interfaces (VUIs), such as smart speakers like Amazon Alexa or social robots like Jibo or Cozmo, are entering multi-user environments including homes. VUIs can utilize multi-modal cues such as graphics, expressive sounds, and movement to convey social engagement, afecting how users perceive agents as social others. Reciprocal relationships with VUIs, i.e., relationships with give-and-take between the VUI and user, are of key interest as they are more likely to foster rapport and emotional engage-ment, and lead to successful collaboration. Through an elicitation study with three commercially available VUIs, we explore small group interactions (n = 33 participants) focused on the behaviors participants display to various VUIs to understand (1) reciprocal in-teractions between VUIs and participants and among small groups and (2) how participants engage with VUIs as the interface's embod-iment becomes more socially capable. The discussion explores (1) theories of sociability applied to the users' behaviors seen with the VUIs, and (2) the group contexts where VUIs that build reciprocal relationships with users can become a powerful persuasive tech-nology and a collaborative companion. We conclude the discussion with recommendations for promoting reciprocity from participants and, therefore, fostering rapport and emotional engagement in VUI interactions.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1145/3434073.3444655
