Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance
Human face recognition is influenced by various social and environmental constructs. For example, both age and race can affect the likelihood that a human face will be correctly recalled. General face appearance (i.e. friendly or untrustworthy faces) can also influence memorability. As human-robot i...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Computers in Human Behavior Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958821001019 |
| _version_ | 1819279148845105152 |
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| author | Allie R. Geiger Benjamin Balas |
| author_facet | Allie R. Geiger Benjamin Balas |
| author_sort | Allie R. Geiger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Human face recognition is influenced by various social and environmental constructs. For example, both age and race can affect the likelihood that a human face will be correctly recalled. General face appearance (i.e. friendly or untrustworthy faces) can also influence memorability. As human-robot interaction (HRI) becomes more commonplace, understanding what factors influence face recognition for non-human social agents is increasingly important. In particular, while there is a growing literature comparing the recognition of real human faces to computer-generated face images, comparisons between human face processing and robot face processing are largely unexplored. Here, we examined how the uncanny/eeriness of robot-faces affects memorability by using a 2AFC old/new task with various robot faces. Participants rated robot and human faces on perceived uncanniness during a study phase and were subsequently given a surprise memory task with only a fraction of the previously-encountered robot faces. Our results demonstrate that robots who are rated as more uncanny are more memorable than those that do not elicit the eerie feelings that correspond with uncanny faces: The more uncanny the robot face, the more accurately and quickly they were recalled. We discuss these results in the context of the design of social agents for HRI and also vis-a-vis theories of human face recognition and memory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T00:23:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df127a170a8e46c095045d65d58f40f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2451-9588 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T00:23:18Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computers in Human Behavior Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-df127a170a8e46c095045d65d58f40f02022-12-21T17:24:32ZengElsevierComputers in Human Behavior Reports2451-95882021-08-014100153Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearanceAllie R. Geiger0Benjamin Balas1Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, USACorresponding author. Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA.; Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, USAHuman face recognition is influenced by various social and environmental constructs. For example, both age and race can affect the likelihood that a human face will be correctly recalled. General face appearance (i.e. friendly or untrustworthy faces) can also influence memorability. As human-robot interaction (HRI) becomes more commonplace, understanding what factors influence face recognition for non-human social agents is increasingly important. In particular, while there is a growing literature comparing the recognition of real human faces to computer-generated face images, comparisons between human face processing and robot face processing are largely unexplored. Here, we examined how the uncanny/eeriness of robot-faces affects memorability by using a 2AFC old/new task with various robot faces. Participants rated robot and human faces on perceived uncanniness during a study phase and were subsequently given a surprise memory task with only a fraction of the previously-encountered robot faces. Our results demonstrate that robots who are rated as more uncanny are more memorable than those that do not elicit the eerie feelings that correspond with uncanny faces: The more uncanny the robot face, the more accurately and quickly they were recalled. We discuss these results in the context of the design of social agents for HRI and also vis-a-vis theories of human face recognition and memory.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958821001019Face recognitionUncanny valleyMemoryHuman-robot interaction |
| spellingShingle | Allie R. Geiger Benjamin Balas Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance Computers in Human Behavior Reports Face recognition Uncanny valley Memory Human-robot interaction |
| title | Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance |
| title_full | Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance |
| title_fullStr | Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance |
| title_short | Robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance |
| title_sort | robot face memorability is affected by uncanny appearance |
| topic | Face recognition Uncanny valley Memory Human-robot interaction |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958821001019 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alliergeiger robotfacememorabilityisaffectedbyuncannyappearance AT benjaminbalas robotfacememorabilityisaffectedbyuncannyappearance |