Analysis of factors influencing the impression of speaker individuality in android robots*

Abstract

Humans use not only verbal information but also non-verbal information in daily communication. Among the non-verbal information, we have proposed methods for automatically generating hand gestures in android robots, with the purpose of generating natural human-like motion. In this study, we investigate the effects of hand gesture models trained/designed for different speakers on the impression of the individuality through android robots. We consider that it is possible to express individuality in the robot, by creating hand motion that are unique to that individual. Three factors were taken into account: the appearance of the robot, the voice, and the hand motion. Subjective evaluation experiments were conducted by comparing motions generated in two android robots, two speaker voices, and two motion types, to evaluate how each modality affects the impression of the speaker individuality. Evaluation results indicated that all these three factors affect the impression of speaker individuality, while different trends were found depending on whether or not the android is copy of an existent person.