The effect of an empathy-eliciting intervention on the perception of telepresence robot users *

Abstract

Telepresence robots can be used in different contexts with different goals; for example, to help remote individuals virtually attend classes and meetings, or to allow healthcare workers and patients in different locations to remain in touch. Although these robots bring about different advantages to mediated communication, telepresence pilots have been found to be perceived less favorably than people who are physically present in a communicative context [1]. Thus, in the current work, to mitigate the negative effects of using a telepresence robot, we examine whether an intervention to elicit empathy can influence the way remote participants are perceived. To this end, in a within-subject design, we asked participants (N=30) to follow text-based instructions to do a language learning activity in groups of three, in which one of the participants used a GoBe telepresence robot to join other co-situated group members. We embedded an intervention designed to create empathy with the telepresence operator in the last section of the activity and used two questionnaires, one before and one after the intervention, to collect participants' subjective evaluations of each other. Findings suggest that after the empathy-eliciting question, participants found the telepresence robot user significantly more trustworthy, reliable, and fascinated by art, music, or literature. Results indicate that the empathy-eliciting intervention has a positive effect on the way collocated participants perceive telepresence users.