“Teach Me About Objects!” – Experience-Driven Interaction for Teachable Robots

To adapt to specific places and people, robots must recognize objects, which are typically taught by users – a tedious process. Inspired by anecdotes of positive teaching experiences shared by educators, sports coaches, and animal trainers, we developed seven experience-driven ways to make teaching a robot more engaging. For example, one interaction involved the robot prompting users to tell personal stories about the objects. A video vignette study (N=184) showed that experience-driven teaching was perceived as more positive than the current technology-driven teaching. Participants reported feeling more competent, connected to the robot, and valued. Additionally, the robot was perceived as more extroverted, open, agreeable, and conscientious. Overall, the experience-driven design of teaching interactions enhanced engagement and persistence by fostering reciprocal exchange and mutual understanding. In addition, the study lends support to an anecdotal approach to designing positive experiences through technology.