Multi-Embodiment and Robot Identity: A Scoping Review

Multi-embodied agents can have both physical and virtual bodies, moving between real and virtual environments to meet user needs, embodying robots or virtual agents alike to support extended human-agent relationships. As a design paradigm, multi-embodiment offers potential benefits to improve communication and access to artificial agents, but there are still many unknowns in how to design these kinds of systems. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of the multi-embodiment and robot identity research, aimed at consolidating the existing evidence and identifying knowledge gaps. Based on our review, we identify key research themes of: multi-embodied systems, identity design, human-agent interaction, environment and context, trust, and information and control. We also identify 16 key research challenges and 12 opportunities for future research.