A Survey of Users' Expectations Towards On-body Companion Robots

Being as a robotic companion is an extensive application of on-body robots; yet, as an emerging type of robots, few previous works focus on the design of on-body companion robots from the users' perspective, remaining users' expectations towards this type of robots unclear. To assist designers in the design process of on-body companion robots, we surveyed users' expectations towards on-body companion robots (n=215) by a questionnaire constituting of questions on factors that may affect robot acceptance, including robot functionality, robot appearance, and robot social ability. Based on the survey results, we stated design guidelines for the design of on-body companion robots supporting designers with insights into users. To demonstrate how to design on-body companion robots based on our findings, we organized a workshop with experienced designers to develop a conceptual on-body companion robot, and they proposed Bubo, an example prototype of on-body companion robot.