The Impact of Backchannel in Medical-Questionnaire Robot on User Perception

Robot backchanneling is implemented using verbal expressions, such as reiterating after remembering the response of the user or chiming in with the user.We performed experiments to investigate how the backchannel behavior of the robot affects the user's perception of the robot's empathy and attentiveness toward their reported pain and sleep concerns.The results indicate that users prefer the robot that provides backchannel and perceive it as more intelligent.Where the robot backchanneled, the number of conversational turns between the user and the robot decreased compared to situations where the robot did not backchannel.The refusal rate of the robot repeating the same question to the user decreased.When a robot is conducting a medical questionnaire and offers backchannels to the user, the overall efficiency of the conversation improves.Users also perceive the robot as understanding and empathetic towards their pain and discomfort, leading to a positive evaluation of the interaction.