Embodied Interactive Characters using Social Robots

Much research has been applied to developing interactive characters. However, most existing work is designed for digital characters. In this work, we explore the use of social robots to embody virtual characters. Robotic avatars have great potential over traditional displays for engaging the user, especially children. Primitive movements of the robots can be used to express emotions, illustrate locations, and even suggest the social relationships among the characters. We present a novel social robot for embodying conversational agents. This social robot combines a robotic lower body with a digital upper body. Thus, we can gain the mobility and presence of a robot without losing the expressive power of body movements and gestures that a virtual character can provide. We performed a preliminary evaluation on expressing emotions and intentions using such a robotic avatar. Our results indicate that the robotic avatar can intensify the expression of emotions over its equivalent digital form. We also observed the trend of subjects paying attention to different aspects of the character’s movements when the character was digital versus when it has a robotic body.