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Social robots, like pets, must inspire trust and sympathy in the owner – so scientists have collected the qualities of dogs that people like the most. Let’s talk more about their research.
What’s going on
- Psychologists and sociologists from the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh, Macquarie University and the University of Western Sydney have studied the behaviors of dogs that are most liked by their owners.
- To do this, 153 pet owners were asked questions about why they like dogs and what influenced the attachment to their pets.
- The researchers identified seven factors: empathy, communication, predictability, physical affection, positivity, intimacy, and spending time together.
- In addition, owners like it when dogs consciously respond to commands, communicate their needs, respond to human emotions and know the daily routine.
- The results obtained are planned to be used for the development of social robots that help their owners in everyday life. Such robots are needed by people with allergies to animals or those who are unable to care for them.
- For example, the algorithm responsible for how the robot moves can be changed in such a way that the robotic dog acts as if consciously and purposefully. And the introduction of cameras, GPS and tactile sensors would make it more responsive to humans and the environment.
What does it mean
Researchers in different countries are studying the features of the interaction between humans and robots. For example, in 2022, the University of Cambridge found that children are more willing to trust robots than parents or psychologists. Scientists suggest that the main reason for trust is the perception of the robot as a friend to whom one can tell about true experiences, and not what children think adults want to hear from them.
However, the robot can also cause a backlash. In 1970, Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori suggested that the more human-like a robot was, the more intimidating it seemed. Moreover, hostility is caused not so much by an external resemblance to a person as by unnatural facial expressions, speech, movements that the eye reads as something alien. This phenomenon is called the “uncanny valley effect”.
One way to avoid the “uncanny valley effect” is to simply not create humanoid robots. Therefore, animal robots are an excellent way to solve everyday problems, which allows you to help a person without causing him discomfort.