Exploring emotion perception in sonic HRI

Despite the fact that sounds produced by robots can affect the interaction with humans, sound design is often an overlooked aspect in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). This paper explores how different sets of sounds designed for expressive robot gestures of a humanoid Pepper robot can influence the perception of emotional intentions. In the pilot study presented in this paper, it has been asked to rate different stimuli in terms of perceived affective states. The stimuli were audio, audio-video and video only and contained either Pepper’s original servomotors noises, sawtooth, or more complex designed sounds. The preliminary results show a preference for the use of more complex sounds, thus confirming the necessity of further exploration in sonic HRI.