The Power of Opening Encounters in HRI: How initial robotic behavior shapes the interaction that follows

Opening encounters are a fundamental component of every interaction. Psychology research highlights the valence of opening encounters as one of the main factors that shape the nature of the interaction that follows. In this work, we evaluated whether opening encounters would have a similarly powerful effect on human-robot interactions. We tested how positive and negative opening encounters with a robot would impact the subsequent interaction. In the experiment, a robotic dog approached a participant in a waiting room. The robot performed gestures designed to communicate different valences of opening encounters under three conditions: Positive, Negative, or No opening encounter. To evaluate the impact on the subsequent interaction, we measured participants' willingness to comply with a help request presented by the robot and their overall perception of the robot. Objective and subjective measures indicated that most participants in the Positive opening encounter condition helped the robot and reported a positive overall perception. An opposite pattern emerged in the other two conditions. Almost none of the participants helped the robot, and the overall perception of the robot was negative. Our findings suggest that opening encounters with robots should be carefully considered and well-designed due to their profound impact on the interaction that follows.