Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting

2025-08-07

AI Summary

This study addresses three key challenges in child–humanoid robot interaction within performing arts: (1) difficulty initiating and sustaining engagement, (2) limited robotic expressivity and reciprocity, and (3) misalignment between children’s expectations and actual robotic behavior. Through iterative field observations and design research with the autonomous robotic dancer NED, we developed an expressive, autonomous robotic arm system integrating behavior-based programming, context-aware interaction strategies, and character-driven costume design to support improvisational dance and open-ended co-creation. Results show that children proactively initiate and sustain artistic human–robot co-dancing; their curiosity strongly drives natural, exploratory interaction; and audience mental models and expectation management critically influence HRI effectiveness. Based on these findings, we propose an art-oriented HRI design framework for children—offering empirically grounded principles to enhance robotic expressivity, dynamic adaptability, and expectation alignment in developmental and artistic contexts.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Computational Creativity

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Research challenges in human and human-AI computation
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation of 18 children's in-the-wild experiences with the autonomous robot arm performer NED (Never-Ending Dancer) within the Thingamabobas installation, showcased across the UK. We detail NED's design, including costume, behaviour, and human interactions, all integral to the installation. Our observational analysis revealed three key challenges in child-robot interactions: 1) Initiating and maintaining engagement, 2) Lack of robot expressivity and reciprocity, and 3) Unmet expectations. Our findings show that children are naturally curious, and adept at interacting with a robotic art performer. However, our observations emphasise the critical need to optimise human-robot interaction (HRI) systems through careful consideration of audience's capabilities, perceptions, and expectations, within the performative arts context, to enable engaging and meaningful experiences, especially for young audiences.

Problem

• Challenges in initiating and maintaining child-robot engagement
• Lack of robot expressivity and reciprocity in interactions
• Unmet expectations in child-robot performative art settings

Innovation

• Autonomous robot arm performer NED
• Costume, behavior, and human interaction design
• Optimizing HRI for child engagement