We present results of a quasi-experimental study investigating how user preference might change after direct interaction with two different types of robot regarding morphology and affordances: a machine-like that interacts through touch, and a human-like that interacts verbally. The study was performed in an art exhibition setting, where visitors had the opportunity to interact with the robots voluntarily, and were asked to fill out questionnaires before and after the experience. Post interactions, visitors preferred to touch the machine-like “hard” robot despite initial stated preference for soft materials, preferred mutual contact despite initial preference of subject to initiate touch, and preferred communication with a robot that could touch rather than initial preference for a robot that could “see”. Overall, users showed a significant constant preference for the machine-like robot, reportedly feeling a stronger connection with it than with the human-like one as it met their expectations, and they found its movements more appealing. Social conditioning can render people reluctant to touch a robot with very human-like appearance, and set the expectations for interaction too high to meet. Our results, lastly, indicate that interaction with more than one type of social robot can affect the interaction experience for each of the robots.

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This paper describes novel interdisciplinary approaches for the design and training of cyborg technologies, specifically upper body exoskeletons. EXACT: Exoskeletons, Art and Choreographic Training is a multi-faceted research effort that uses dance performance and experimental trials to study the effects of movement and live performance on exoskeleton training. The goal is to combine research methods from the arts with human robot interaction (HRI) research. The rationale for using ethnographic methods (which privilege qualitative analysis through video data and multimodal interaction analysis) within an HRI framework is to develop nuanced approaches for studying embodiment and techno-corporeality in socially-situated contexts. This investigation has led to the development of new evaluation tools and frameworks for studying human-machine interaction, including human-centred assessments and custom virtual reality tools that allow for fine-grained analysis. An interdisciplinary approach is essential for studying the corporeal experience in human-machine interactions.