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176 Socially Intelligent Agents

We can also cue Sparky to make vocalizations, which sound something like
muffled speech combined with a French horn. Just as in the case of ambient
motion, the affective content of each sound is correlated to Sparky’s emotional
state. There are several sounds available in each state.
A more comprehensive description of the robot is provided in our previous
work [10].

4. Observing Sparky and People

To explore our research questions two venues were chosen in which to ex-
plore human-robot interaction, one in the lab and the second in public.

In the Lab. Thirty external subjects were recruited for 17 trials in our
internal lab (singles and dyads). Approximately 50% of subjects were between
ages 8–14, 13% were 19–30, 17% were 35–45 and 20% were over age 65.
There was an even mix of genders. Subjects answered several background
questions, interacted with the robot for about 15 minutes, and then discussed
the experience with the interviewer in the room. Interactions between the robot
and the subject were necessarily chaotic; we tried simply to react reasonably to
the subject’s actions while still manifesting the personality we have described
above.

In Public. Tests were conducted 2–3 hours a day for six days at an interac-
tive science museum. The robot was released for an hour at a time to “wander”
in an open area. There were no signs or explanations posted.

5. Reactions
Reactions are grouped into three categories. In “Observed behavior” we
report on what users did with the robot. In “Interview response” we cover the
feedback they gave to the interviewer in lab testing. Finally, in “Operating the
robot” we report on what the operators experienced.

5.1 Observed behavior

Children were usually rapt with attention and treated the robot as if it were
alive. Young children (4–7ish) tended to be very energetic around the robot
(giddy, silly, etc.) and had responses that were usually similar regardless of
gender. They were generally very kind to Sparky. Occasionally, a group of
children might tease or provoke Sparky and we would then switch into a sad,
nervous, or afraid state. This provoked an immediate empathetic response.
Older children (7ish to early teens) were also engaged but had different in-
teraction patterns depending on gender. Older boys were usually aggressive
towards Sparky. Boys often made ugly faces at the robot and did such things