Children's Expectations and Strategies in Interacting with a Wizard of Oz Robot

This paper presents an analysis of children's interactions with an early prototype of a robot that is being designed for deployment in early learning centres. 23 children aged 2-6 interacted with the prototype, consisting of a pair of tablets embedded in a flat and vaguely humanoid form. We used a Wizard of Oz (WoZ) technique to control a synthesized voice that delivered predefined statements and questions, and a tablet mounted as a head that displayed animated eyes. The children's interactions with the robot and with the adult experimenter were video recorded and analysed in order to identify some of the children's expectations of the robot's behaviour and capabilities, and to observe their strategies for interacting with a speaking and minimally animated artificial agent. We found a surprising breadth in children's reactions, expectations and strategies (as evidenced by their behaviour) and a noteworthy tolerance for the robot's occasionally awkward behaviour.