title: [Should assistive robots have a "personality"? : Potential of simplified robot personalities].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the European Union (EU) research project "HOBBIT" prototypes of assistive robots were developed in order to support a more secure and independent life style and trials were run at the homes of elderly users.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The project "personAAL" aimed at investigating whether distinct behavioral forms of a robot ("personality"), despite an identical basic function (e.g. bringing a message) are perceived as different personalities by the test persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  For this study a robot was equipped with two types of behavior, one more introverted (purely function-oriented, impersonal and factual) and the other more extroverted (lively and enriched). The two types of behavior were demonstrated to 13 test persons (mostly older persons and experts from the care domain).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly all of the test persons (12 out of 13) perceived a difference with respect to the behavior of the robot. Of the test persons 1 preferred the introverted robot, 9 the extroverted behavior of the robot and 3 had no preferences or stated that the preference depended on the context. The evaluation of answers to the Godspeed questionnaire resulted in significantly different perceptions of "anthropomorphism" and "animated" as well as in the total evaluation. It is also remarkable that no significant differences could be found for "likeability" and "perceived security". There was also no significant correlation between the preferred behavior of the robot and the self-assessment of the test person as being more introverted or extroverted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From these results it can be concluded that acceptance of a robot does not solely depend on the mere function, which of course is a precondition but that it is advisable to offer a choice between different types of behavior in order to optimize acceptance.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Gestaltungs- und Wirkungsforschung, Zentrum für Angewandte Assistierende Technologien, Technische Universität Wien, 1040, Wien, Österreich.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Gestaltungs- und Wirkungsforschung, Zentrum für Angewandte Assistierende Technologien, Technische Universität Wien, 1040, Wien, Österreich. paul.panek@tuwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panek
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006804:Ergonomics; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*; D012656:Self-Help Devices / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Acceptance; Assistive technology; Behavior; Interaction; Robotics