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Trust plays a critical role in the success of human-robot teams (HRTs). While typically studied as a perceptual attitude, trust also encompasses individual dispositions and interactive behaviors like compliance. Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human-like qualities to robots, is a related phenomenon that designers often leverage to positively influence trust. However, the relationship of anthropomorphism to perceptual, dispositional, and behavioral trust is not fully understood. This study explores how anthropomorphism moderates these relationships in a virtual urban search and rescue HRT scenario. Our findings indicate that the moderating effects of anthropomorphism depend on how a robot’s recommendations and its confidence in them are communicated through text and graphical information. These results highlight the complexity of the relationships between anthropomorphism, trust, and the social conveyance of information in designing for safe and effective human-robot teaming. 

Virtual testbeds are fundamental to the success of research on cognitive work in safety-critical domains. A testbed that can meet researchers' objectives and create a sense of reality for participants positively impacts the research process; they have the potential to allow researchers to address questions not achievable in physical environments. This paper discusses the development of a synthetic task environment (STE) for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) to advance the boundaries of Human-Robot Teams (HRTs) using Roblox. Virtual testbeds can simulate USAR task environments and HRT interactions. After assessing alternative STE platforms, we discovered Roblox not only met our research capabilities but also would prove invaluable for research teams without substantial coding experience. This paper outlines the design process of creating an STE to meet our research team's objectives.