Investigation of Robot's Eye Gaze Affecting Human Pedestrian Behavior by Robot in Virtual Space

We investigate the effects of robot's gaze on human behavior when a human and a robot pass each other in a virtual reality space (VR). Nonverbal communication, particularly eye contact, influences physical proximity between individuals in human-to-human interaction. Results of a study indicate that the robot's gaze affects the physical distance between a human and a robot in human-robot communication. Studies on robot's gaze tend to focus on experimental scenarios in which robots and humans communicate. However, robot's gaze in environments with interactions, such as crossing paths, has not been extensively investigated. Therefore, we hypothesize that the robot's gaze exhibits an influence on the physical distance between humans and robots during encounters. In our experiment, we compare three conditions: a robot with a rotating neck and gaze directed at the subject, a faceless robot with a rotating neck, and a faceless robot with a rotating neck and gaze directed at the subject. We analyze the subject's paths of movement and physical distance between the subjects and the robot. Results suggest that the hypothesis that “intimacy equilibrium model” works when humans and robot's cross paths in the VR environment is not supported.