Collaborating with a robot biases human spatial attention

Advancements in collaborative technologies have increased the accessibility of human-robot interaction (HRI), yet a gap remains in understanding how HRI affects human systems. This work investigates how HRI influences human visual processing, specifically through the near-hand effect, a phenomenon where the proximity of one's hand enhances spatial attention. Research has shown that this attentional priority can extend to another person's hand during collaborative tasks, integrating it into an individual's body schema. A critical question arises: can a robot's anthropomorphic hand similarly bias human attentional priority? Our findings revealed that collaborative HRI facilitates target detection near the robot's hand, an effect absent before the interaction. Additionally, we examined social and kinematic metrics that enhance this attentional shift by fostering joint body schema formation. These results highlight that HRI can shape human visual processing and body schema integration, offering insight into the interplay between our perceptual and cognitive systems and robotic collaborators.