Using Attachable Humanoid Parts for Realizing Imaginary Intention and Body Image

We propose a new human-robot interaction that anthropomorphizes a target common object using attachable humanoid parts. The user perceives the target to have its own intentions and body image through the attached body parts. We experimented with how users accepted the intentions and imaginary body image of a common object with humanoid parts. We also compared this human-robot interaction with that of the general communication robot Robovie to demonstrate the possibilities of our method. The results indicated that the anthropomorphized target object is able to interact effectively with users. Furthermore, users remembered the target’s functions more and were more intimate with the anthropomorphized target than with the independent communication robot.