How do people in the UK and Japan imagine an encounter with a robot?: a story-stem study

The role of culture for human—robot interaction (HRI) remains largely inconclusive. Yet, experimental investigations are challenging, as findings are often constrained by specific experimental setups. A qualitative approach—one where people produce their own HRI situations—may offer a unique insight into cultural factors during HRI. Using a story-stem technique, people who identified themselves as UK or Japanese nationals were asked to write a short story, beginning with a fellow human of their country group encountering a robot. Thematic analysis focusing on the nature of human― robot relationship as well as the extent to which the robot character is portrayed to be agentic, indicated that stories enacting both highly agentic robot characters and an in-group relationship were far more frequent in the Japanese group. The findings are discussed as to what contribution such a qualitative approach may make for the ongoing work to design culturally sensitive robots.