The Sound or Silence: Investigating the Influence of Robot Noise on Proxemics

In the design of robots that have to share spaces with humans, design plays an important role in the acceptance, and sound is one further aspect that should not be neglected, in order to facilitate interaction and minimise repulsion. Following a previous research in which an uncomfortable noise from a robot was identified, we present an interaction study in which the same noise was tested in order to measure the effect on proxemics, as opposed to a silent condition and to a different version of the sound, masked with ambient music. The results obtained with the participation of 60 subjects show the effectiveness of the mask in avoiding the negative effect of the noise.