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1. Cross-cultural Design and Evaluation of Robot Prototypes based on Kawaii (Cute) Attributes

   Berque, Dave; Chiba, Hiroko; Laohakangvalvit, Tipporn; Ohkura, Michiko; Sripian, Peeraya; Sugaya, Midori; Bautista, Kevin; Blakey, Jordyn; Chen, Feng; Huang, Wenkang; et al (July 2021, International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction HCII 2021: Cross Cultural Design)

   Rau, Pei-Luen P (Ed.)

   We report on a cross-cultural collaborative project between students and faculty at DePauw University in the United States and Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan that used cross-cultural teams to design and evaluate robotic gadgets to gain a deeper understanding of the role that kawaii (Japanese cuteness) plays in fostering positive human response to, and acceptance of, these devices across cultures. Two cross-cultural design teams used Unity and C# to design and implement prototypes of virtual robotic gadgets as well as virtual environments for the robots to interact in. One team designed a virtual train station as well as robotic gadgets to operate in the station. The other team designed a virtual university campus as well as robotic gadgets that operated in that environment. Two versions of each robotic gadget were designed, such that the two versions differed with respect to one kawaii at-tribute (shape, size, etc.) Using these robots, we conducted a formal study that compared perceptions of kawaii robots between American college students and Japanese college students, as well as across genders. The findings revealed that there was not much difference in perception of kawaii across cultures and genders. Furthermore, the study shows that designing a robot to be more kawaii/cute appears to positively influence human preference for being around the robot. This study will inform our long-term goal of designing robots that are appealing across gender and culture. 

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

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05311-5_33  

   Ohkura, M.; Laohakangvalvit, T.; Sripian, P.; Sugaya, M.; Chiba, H.; Berque, D. (June 2022, Human-Computer Interaction. Theoretical Approaches and Design Methods. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science)

   Kurosu, M. (Ed.)

   This paper describes our remote collaboration project related to the design and implementation of virtual kawaii robots by Japanese and American university students, and affective evaluation of the robots. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to change our planned 7-week collaboration from in-person to virtual with a resultant change in the target product of our collaboration from real robots to virtual robots. Based on our new plan for 2021, students designed robots in virtual spaces aiming that each robot elicited a different Electroencephalogram (EEG) and/or Heart Rate (HR) reaction from humans. Based on the persona and scenario for the companion robot authored by each student team, each student designed four robots with the goal that one robot would be most kawaii, a Japanese adjective representing cute and adorable, and others would be less kawaii due to variations in shapes and colors. The affective evaluation of robots was performed both by biological signals (EEG and HR) and by kawaii rating. 

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

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05311-5_27  

   Berque, D.; Chiba, H.; Laohakangvalvit, T.; Ohkura, M.; Sripian, P.; Sugaya, M.; Guinee, L.; Imura, S.; Jadram, N.; Martinez, R.; et al (June 2022, Human-Computer Interaction. Theoretical Approaches and Design Methods. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science)

   Kurosu, Masaaki (Ed.)

   We report on an extension of a cross-cultural collaborative project between students and faculty at DePauw University in the United States and Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan. The ongoing project uses cross-cultural teams to design and evaluate virtual companion robots for university students with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of the role that kawaii (Japanese cuteness) plays in fostering positive human response to, and acceptance of, robots across cultures. Members of two cross-cultural teams designed virtual companion robots with specific kawaii attributes. Using these robots, we conducted the first phase of a two-phase user study to understand perceptions of these companion robots. The findings demonstrate that participants judge round companion robots to be more kawaii than angular ones and they also judge colorful robots to be more kawaii than greyscale robots. The phase one study identified pairs of robots that are the most appropriate candidates for conducting further investigations. The appropriateness of these pairs holds across male and female participates as well as across participants whose primary culture is American and those whose primary culture is Japanese. This work prepares us to perform a more detailed study across genders and cultures using both survey results and biosensors. In turn, this will inform our long-term goal of designing robots that are appealing across gender and culture. 

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4. Exploring Consequential Robot Sound: Should We Make Robots Quiet and Kawaii-et?

   https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS51168.2021.9636365  

   Zhang, Brian J.; Peterson, Knut; Sanchez, Christopher A.; Fitter, Naomi T. (September 2021, 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS))

   All robots create consequential sound—sound produced as a result of the robot’s mechanisms—yet little work has explored how sound impacts human-robot interaction. Recent work shows that the sound of different robot mechanisms affects perceived competence, trust, human-likeness, and discomfort. However, the physical sound characteristics responsible for these perceptions have not been clearly identified. In this paper, we aim to explore key characteristics of robot sound that might influence perceptions. A pilot study from our past work showed that quieter and higher-pitched robots may be perceived as more competent and less discomforting. To better understand how variance in these attributes affects perception, we performed audio manipulations on two sets of industrial robot arm videos within a series of four new studies presented in this paper. Results confirmed that quieter robots were perceived as less discomforting. In addition, higher-pitched robots were perceived as more energetic, happy, warm, and competent. Despite the robot’s industrial purpose and appearance, participants seemed to prefer more "cute" (or "kawaii") sound profiles, which could have implications for the design of more acceptable and fulfilling sound profiles for human-robot interactions with practical collaborative robots. 

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

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49788-0_42  

   Berque, D.; Chiba, H.; Ohkura, M.; Sripian, P.; Sugaya, M. (July 2020, International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction HCII 2020: Cross-Cultural Design. User Experience of Products, Services, and Intelligent Environments)

   As robotic gadgets, and eventually robots, become increasingly common in daily life, it is critical that roboticists design devices that are accepted across cultures. Previous studies have examined cross-cultural differences in robot acceptance based on various design characteristics. Similarly, prior studies have examined cross-cultural perceptions of kawaii (Japanese cuteness). Building on these two prior research strands, this paper reports on our developing approach, with support from a United States National Science Foundation (NSF) International Research Experiences for Undergraduates (IRES) grant, to use a cross-cultural, faculty-student design team to gain a deeper understanding of the role that kawaii (Japanese cuteness) plays in fostering positive human response to, and acceptance of, robotic gadgets across cultures. After explaining the motivation for the work, we outline our approach from both a technical and educational perspective. In doing so, we provide a case study that demonstrates how a cross-cultural design team involving students can simultaneously generate new knowledge and provide research training for future Human Computer Interaction professionals. 

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