ABSTRACT
This study investigates the influence of auditory and visual cues during robot-assisted hugging on the perceptions and stress-buffering effects of the interaction. Within the human sciences, an individual’s perceived gender significantly affects the impressions formed during tactile interactions, such as hugging. For this purpose, we examined whether the perceived gender of an agent, manipulated by audio-visual stimuli, impacts the positive attributes of a hug, particularly its stress-buffering effects. We developed the MetaHug system, a platform that integrates a robotic device with a virtual reality application, and created both feminine and masculine virtual agents to evaluate the auditory and visual components in human–robot hugging interactions. We conducted an experiment with human participants and found a substantial variation in the impressions generated during the robotic hugging, variations that depended on the gender of the virtual agents. Furthermore, the participants experienced a notable reduction in anxiety during a high-stress task when hugging a virtual agent that represented their preferred gender for romantic relationships. Our results suggest that the MetaHug platform holds promise for altering the perceived impressions of a robotic hug and improving its stress-buffering effects by adjusting the auditory and visual aspects within a virtual reality application.
