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Title: Public Versus Private: How Teens Perceived Teen-Robot Interactions in a School Setting
Social robots may be a promising social-emotional tool to support adolescent mental health. However, how might interactions with a social robot in a school setting be perceived by teens? From previous studies, we gathered qualitative data suggesting a design tension between teens wanting both public and private interactions with our social robot, EMAR. In our current study, we explored interactions between a social robot and a small group of adolescents in a semi-private, school library setting. We found: (1) Some teens preferred to have a friend present while they engaged with the social robot, (2) Teens found comfort in being physically visible, but audibly private during interactions, and finally (3) Strangers in the school environment were not disruptive of the teens' robot interactions, but unexpectedly friends were. After presenting these findings, we briefly discuss how these qualitative data can be situated and our next steps for further exploration.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1734100
NSF-PAR ID:
10386125
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
Page Range / eLocation ID:
955 to 958
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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