A new study from the Georgia
Institute of Technology finds that older and younger people have varying
preferences about what they would want a personal robot to look like. And they
change their minds based on what the robot is supposed to do. Participants were
shown a series of photos portraying either robotic, human or mixed human-robot
faces and were asked to select the one that they would prefer for their robot’s
appearance.
Most college-aged adults in the
study preferred a robotic appearance, although they were also generally open to
the others. However, nearly 60 percent of older adults said they would want a
robot with a human face, and only 6 percent of them chose one with a mixed
human-robot appearance. But the preferences in both age groups wavered a bit
when participants were told the robot was assisting with personal care, chores,
social interaction or for helping to make decisions.
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