Enhancing University Visitor Satisfaction: A Human-Robot Interaction Study on the Design and Perception of a Guiding Robot Assistant

The buildings within higher education institutions are expansive, posing challenges for individuals attempting to navigate to specific rooms. Due to the permanent stationing of receptionists, physical guidance is not feasible, resulting in lengthy explanations and people still experiencing difficulty finding their way. To enhance the satisfaction of university visitors, we developed a human-robot interaction application to imbue the semi-autonomous robot assistant TEMI with complex behaviors for greeting and house guiding. Through this application, the robot effectively directed visitors to their chosen locations on the floor, facilitated video calls with the secretary for inquiries upon arrival, displayed additional destination information on its screen, and prompted visitors to respond to a feedback questionnaire presented on the robot’s display. Significantly, both verbal and non-verbal behaviors were incorporated to ensure that visitors perceived the robot as a welcoming service provider. To assess the efficacy of the complex behavior application, an experiment was conducted in a controlled environment, involving 28 voluntary students and university teachers. Participants followed prescribed activities under the guidance of a researcher and subsequently completed a feedback questionnaire. The results overwhelmingly indicate positive perceptions of interaction and collaboration with the robot assistant among visitors. Plans involve conducting a study in a real-world environment, where visitors interact with the robot without technical assistance from researchers.