The Relative Pose of Robots Reshapes the Invisible Protective Bubble Around Us

The invisible protective bubbles surrounding us delineate the boundary of personal space we anticipate others to respect. This study examined the impact of collaborative robots on this protective bubble in the context of human-robot teaming, utilizing the widely used Godspeed questionnaire and pupil recording. The questionnaire revealed heightened feelings of perceived unsafety, coupled with increased discomfort when the robot was situated behind and head-aligned with its human teammate. The pupil recordings further supported these observations, revealing a more pronounced pupil dilation when the robot stepped in place behind its human teammate, especially when the robot was heading in the same direction. These findings underscore the pivotal role of the pose of robots in human-robot teams. In human-robot collaborations, it is advisable to avoid situating the robot behind and aligning its head with the human teammate.