Improving of Robotic Virtual Agent’s Errors Accepted by Agent’s Reaction and Human’s Preference

One way to improve the relationship between humans and anthropomorphic agents is to have humans empathize with the agents. In this study, we focused on a task between an agent and a human in which the agent makes a mistake. To investigate significant factors for designing a robotic agent that can promote humans’ empathy, we experimentally examined the hypothesis that agent reaction and human’s preference affect human empathy and acceptance of the agent’s mistakes. In this experiment, participants allowed the agent to manage their schedules by answering the questions they were asked. The experiment consisted of a four-condition, three-factor mixed design with agent reaction, selected agent’s body color for human’s preference, and pre- and post-task as factors. The results showed that agent reaction and human’s preference did not affect empathy toward the agent but did allow the agent to make mistakes. It was also shown that empathy for the agent decreased when the agent made a mistake on the task. The results of this study provide a way to influence impressions of the robotic virtual agent’s behaviors, which are increasingly used in society.