ABSTRACT
In the present study, emotion varied with the overall shape of robot is experimentally investigated using the surface-modelled images of robots and the real models fabricated using these images. In total, 27 robot shapes were used for the experiment, which are combinations of three different shapes of head, trunk and limb (legs and arms), respectively. During the experiment, the images and real models of these robot shapes were presented to 20 subjects, and their answers to the questionnaire relating to the emotions invoked by the images and models were collected. Then, statistical analysis was performed to estimate the matching levels between the overall shapes of robot and the emotions. The result showed that the overall shape most suitable for the service robots is the one which has a cylindlical shape for all of head, trunk and limb.
