A Pilot Study on Proxemic Preferences in Human-Cobot Interaction

Proxemics theory argues for the importance of people regulating the distance they maintain from each other, allowing for the construction of a personal space boundary which, when violated, generates discomfort. This distance is regulated by a complex analysis mechanism that involves the fusion of cultural elements with a set of non-verbal factors, such as kinesics, haptics, and visual cues. Human comfort distance should also be considered in interactions with robotic agents. In the workplace, humans tend to tolerate variations in classic social distances (intimate, personal, social, and public) when engaging in common activities with clearly defined work-related goals. This study investigates the hypothesis that comfort distance with a robotic agent is also flexible when a joint action is underway. To test this hypothesis, an experiment involving interaction between a human participant and a collaborative robot (cobot) was conducted, in which a sense of shared interest was established through a card game. In addition to quantitative data, such as robot distance, the experiment also generates qualitative data through participants’ responses to a questionnaire about their impressions of the interaction. The findings are particularly relevant to industrial settings, where the use of cobot is increasingly in demand.