IRES Track One: Involving Undergraduates in Research on Design and Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Cuteness in Robotic Gadgets

IRES 轨道一：让本科生参与机器人小玩意的设计和跨文化可爱感知研究

• 批准号: 1854255
• 负责人: David Berque
• 金额: $ 28.68万
• 依托单位: DePauw University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1854255&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Track; Involving; Undergraduates; Research

As robotic gadgets, and eventually robots, become increasingly common in daily life, it is critical that roboticists design devices that are accepted by diverse users. This collaboration between DePauw University in the United States and Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan will lead to a deeper understanding of the role that cuteness plays in fostering positive human response to, and acceptance of, robotic gadgets. Building on research related to the Japanese concept of kawaii (Japanese cuteness), this project involves designing prototypes of robotic gadgets with varying levels and types of cuteness, and conducting multi-site, cross-cultural user studies that evaluate user?s reactions to varied designs. A long-term goal of this research is to deepen our understanding of how designers can use the concept of kawaii to build robotic gadgets that are accepted by diverse users. The project provides educational and research experiences, at the individual and cohort level, for a diverse group of twelve students comprised of four undergraduates participating in each of three summers. Before departing for Japan, students will complete cultural and technical preparatory activities led collaboratively by two DePauw faculty members with remote contributions from three Shibaura Institute of Technology faculty members. Each student will then conduct research for seven weeks at Shibaura Institute of Technology under the primary mentorship of the Shibaura faculty members with supplemental remote and on-site mentorship from the DePauw faculty members. In addition to informing inclusive design practices for robotic gadgets, the project will serve as a catalyst for ongoing collaborations between DePauw University and Shibaura Institute of Technology. The concept of kawaii (Japanese cuteness) is considered an essential element of Japanese design and is commonly seen in both low-tech and high-tech products including robots and robotic gadgets. Increasingly, kawaii is incorporated into successful products that are used globally. An object?s kawaii-ness is an important part of its affect, which may influence a user?s likability and acceptance of the object. Previous publications by the project team and others have investigated several aspects of kawaii in simple static objects, including analysis across cultures and genders. Other researches have evaluated various affective properties of robots. Building on prior work, the DePauw-Shibaura collaboration will investigate cross-cultural and gender differences related to perceptions of kawaii, specifically in robotic gadgets, with the aim of understanding how to design devices that are accepted by diverse users. Each student will work on a project that involves designing and prototyping several versions (with varying degrees and types of kawaii-ness) of a domain-specific robotic gadget, and then conducting one or more experiments from a user-study suite that measures a user?s emotional reaction to the gadgets using measurements obtained through self-reports and/or biosensors. We will gather data from subjects in both Japan and the United States, which will allow us to compare user reactions across both culture and gender. One challenge in running a cross-cultural, multi-site user study involving prototypes of robotic gadgets involves replicability. It is difficult to build several identical prototypes for use at different sites and even more difficult to build several versions of each prototype that incorporate different kawaii properties. Therefore, we will explore the use of traditional video, as well as stereoscopic 3D video, to record each prototype and to present the prototype consistently to users at different sites.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

随着机器人小工具，最终是机器人，在日常生活中变得越来越普遍，机器人专家设计被不同用户接受的设备至关重要。美国DePauw大学和日本芝浦技术研究所之间的合作将使人们更深入地了解可爱在促进人类对机器人小工具的积极反应和接受方面所起的作用。 基于与日本可爱概念相关的研究，该项目涉及设计具有不同级别和类型可爱的机器人小工具原型，并进行多站点，跨文化用户研究，评估用户？对不同设计的反应。 这项研究的一个长期目标是加深我们对设计师如何使用卡哇伊概念来构建被不同用户接受的机器人小工具的理解。该项目提供了教育和研究经验，在个人和队列水平，为一个多元化的12名学生组成的四个本科生参加三个夏天的每一组。 在前往日本之前，学生将完成由两名DePauw教师合作领导的文化和技术准备活动，并由三名芝浦技术学院教师远程贡献。 然后，每个学生将在芝浦理工学院进行为期七周的研究，由芝浦教职员工进行主要指导，并由DePauw教职员工进行远程和现场指导。除了为机器人小工具的包容性设计实践提供信息外，该项目还将成为DePauw大学和芝浦技术研究所之间持续合作的催化剂。 卡哇伊（日本可爱）的概念被认为是日本设计的一个基本元素，在低科技和高科技产品中都很常见，包括机器人和机器人小工具。越来越多的卡哇伊被纳入全球使用的成功产品中。 一件物品？的卡哇伊性是其影响的重要组成部分，这可能会影响用户？的可爱性和接受的对象。 项目团队和其他人之前的出版物已经调查了简单静态对象中卡哇伊的几个方面，包括跨文化和性别的分析。其他研究评估了机器人的各种情感特性。在先前工作的基础上，DePauw-Shibaura合作将调查与卡哇伊相关的跨文化和性别差异，特别是在机器人小工具中，目的是了解如何设计被不同用户接受的设备。 每个学生都将参与一个项目，该项目涉及设计和原型设计几个版本（具有不同程度和类型的卡哇伊性）的特定领域的机器人小工具，然后从测量用户的用户研究套件中进行一个或多个实验。使用通过自我报告和/或生物传感器获得的测量结果，来测量人们对这些小工具的情绪反应。我们将收集来自日本和美国的受试者的数据，这将使我们能够比较不同文化和性别的用户反应。 在进行一项涉及机器人小工具原型的跨文化、多地点用户研究时，面临的一个挑战是可复制性。 很难构建几个相同的原型用于不同的站点，更难构建每个原型的几个版本，这些版本包含不同的卡哇伊属性。 因此，我们将探索使用传统视频以及立体3D视频来记录每个原型，并将原型一致地呈现给不同地点的用户。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Design and Implementation of Kawaii Robots by Japanese and American University Students using Remote Collaboration

日本和美国大学生远程协作设计和实现卡哇伊机器人

• DOI: 10.5057/isase.2021-c000007
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: International Symposium on Affective Science and Engineering
• 作者: OHKURA, Michiko;SUGAYA, Midori;SRIPIAN, Peeraya;LAOHAKANGVALVIT, Tipporn;CHIBA, Hiroko;BERQUE, Dave
• 通讯作者: BERQUE, Dave

Design and Implementation of Kawaii Robotic Gadgets in Virtual Spaces by Japanese and American University Students in a Remote Collaboration Project

日本和美国大学生在远程协作项目中在虚拟空间中设计和实现卡哇伊机器人小工具

• DOI: 10.5057/ijae.ijae-d-21-00015
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: International Journal of Affective Engineering
• 影响因子: 0.3
• 作者: OHKURA, Michiko;SUGAYA, Midori;SRIPIAN, Peeraya;LAOHAKANGVALVIT, Tipporn;CHIBA, Hiroko;BERQUE, Dave
• 通讯作者: BERQUE, Dave

Fostering Cross-Cultural Research by Cross-Cultural Student Teams: A Case Study Related to Kawaii (Cute) Robot Design

促进跨文化学生团队的跨文化研究：与卡哇伊（可爱）机器人设计相关的案例研究

• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-49788-0_42
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: and Intelligent Environments
• 作者: Berque, D.;Chiba, H.;Ohkura, M.;Sripian, P.;Sugaya, M.
• 通讯作者: Sugaya, M.

Affective Evaluation of Virtual Kawaii Robotic Gadgets Using Biological Signals in a Remote Collaboration of American and Japanese Students

美国和日本学生远程协作中使用生物信号的虚拟卡哇伊机器人小工具的情感评估

• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-05311-5_33
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Human-Computer Interaction. Theoretical Approaches and Design Methods. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• 作者: Ohkura, M.;Laohakangvalvit, T.;Sripian, P.;Sugaya, M.;Chiba, H.;Berque, D.
• 通讯作者: Berque, D.

Cross-Cultural Design and Evaluation of Student Companion Robots with Varied Kawaii (Cute) Attributes

具有多种卡哇伊属性的学生伴侣机器人的跨文化设计与评估

• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-05311-5_27
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Human-Computer Interaction. Theoretical Approaches and Design Methods. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• 作者: Berque, D.;Chiba, H.;Laohakangvalvit, T.;Ohkura, M.;Sripian, P.;Sugaya, M.;Guinee, L.;Imura, S.;Jadram, N.;Martinez, R.
• 通讯作者: Martinez, R.