Article published In: Interaction Studies
Vol. 21:2 (2020) ► pp.243–267
Robot-Mediated Interviews
A field trial with a potential real-world user
Published online: 20 May 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/is.18031.woo
https://doi.org/10.1075/is.18031.woo
Abstract
In recent years the possibility of using humanoid robots to perform interviews with children has been explored in
a number of studies. This paper details a study in which a potential real-world user trialled a Robot-Mediated Interviewing system
with children to establish if this approach could realistically be used in a real-world context. In this study a senior
educational psychologist used the humanoid robot Kaspar to interview ten primary school children about a video they had watched
prior to the interview. We conducted a pre and post interview with the educational psychologist before and after using the system
to establish how the system worked for him and the perceived potential for real-world applications. The educational psychologist
successfully used the system to interview the children and believed that principally using a small humanoid robot to interview
children could be useful in a real-world setting provided the system was developed further.
Keywords: social robots, educational robots, Robot-Mediated Interview, Kaspar
Article outline
- Introduction
- Background
- Research questions
- Methodology
- Technical prerequisites implemented in the system
- Participants
- Procedure
- Measures
- Results
- Interviewer background (pre-trial interview)
- System feedback (post-trial interview)
- Discussion
- Summary of findings
- Conclusion
- Limitations
- Acknowledgements
References
References (28)
Screaming Bee. MorphVOX Pro. Retrieved from [URL]
Bethel, C. L., Eakin, D. K., Anreddy, S., Stuart, J. K., & Carruth, D. (2013). Eyewitnesses are misled by human but not robot interviewers. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 8th ACM/IEEE international conference on Human-robot interaction.
Bethel, C. L., Henkel, Z., Stives, K., May, D. C., Eakin, D. K., Pilkinton, M., … Stubbs-Richardson, M. (2016). Using Robots to Interview Children about Bullying: Lessons Learned from an Exploratory Study. Paper presented at the Presentation in the Special Session on Child-Robot Interaction at the 25th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2016).
Bethel, C. L., Stevenson, M. R., & Scassellati, B. (2011). Sharing a Secret: Interactions Between a Child, Robot, and Adult. Paper presented at the Presented at the Children with Robots Workshop at the 6th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Cabibihan, J.-J., Javed, H., Ang Jr, M., & Aljunied, S. M. (2013). Why robots? A survey on the roles and benefits of social robots in the therapy of children with autism. International Journal of Social Robotics, 5(4), 593–618.
Chevalier, P., Martin, J.-C., Isableu, B., Bazile, C., & Tapus, A. (2017). Impact of sensory preferences of individuals with autism on the recognition of emotions expressed by two robots, an avatar, and a human. Autonomous Robots, 41(3), 613–635.
Conti, D., Di Nuovo, S., Buono, S., & Di Nuovo, A. (2017). Robots in education and care of children with developmental disabilities: a study on acceptance by experienced and future professionals. International Journal of Social Robotics, 9(1), 51–62.
Costa, S., Lehmann, H., Dautenhahn, K., Robins, B., & Soares, F. (2015). Using a humanoid robot to elicit body awareness and appropriate physical interaction in children with autism. International Journal of Social Robotics, 7(2), 265–278.
Costescu, C. A., Vanderborght, B., & David, D. O. (2014). The effects of robot-enhanced psychotherapy: A meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 18(2), 127.
Esteban, P. G., Baxter, P., Belpaeme, T., Billing, E., Cai, H., Cao, H.-L., … De Beir, A. (2017). How to build a supervised autonomous system for robot-enhanced therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder. Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, 8(1), 18–38.
UK Government. (2011). Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on Interviewing Victims and Witnesses, and Using Special Measures. Home Office Criminal Justice System.
Hsu, C.-W., & Teoh, Y.-S. (2017). Investigating Event Memory in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Effects of a Computer-Mediated Interview. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 47(2), 359–372.
Jones, L., Bellis, M. A., Wood, S., Hughes, K., McCoy, E., Eckley, L., … Officer, A. (2012). Prevalence and risk of violence against children with disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. The Lancet.
Kyriakidou, M. (2016). Discussing robot crime interviewers for children’s forensic testimonies: a relatively new field for investigation. AI & SOCIETY, 31(1), 121–126.
Martínez-Miranda, J., Pérez-Espinosa, H., Espinosa-Curiel, I., Avila-George, H., & Rodríguez-Jacobo, J. (2018). Age-based differences in preferences and affective reactions towards a robot’s personality during interaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 841, 245–257.
Mead, R., Grollman, D. H., Lim, A., Yeung, C., Stout, A., & Knox, W. B. (2018). HRI 2018 Workshop: Social Robots in the Wild. Paper presented at the Companion of the 2018 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction.
Meghdari, A., Alemi, M., Khamooshi, M., Amoozandeh, A., Shariati, A., & Mozafari, B. (2016). Conceptual design of a social robot for pediatric hospitals. Paper presented at the Robotics and Mechatronics (ICROM), 2016 4th International Conference on.
Pennisi, P., Tonacci, A., Tartarisco, G., Billeci, L., Ruta, L., Gangemi, S., & Pioggia, G. (2015). Autism and social robotics: A systematic review. Autism Research.
Robins, B., & Dautenhahn, K. (2014). Tactile interactions with a humanoid robot: novel play scenario implementations with children with autism. International Journal of Social Robotics, 6(3), 397–415.
Robins, B., Dautenhahn, K., & Dickerson, P. (2009, February 1–7). From isolation to communication: A case study evaluation of robot assisted play for children with autism with a minimally expressive humanoid robot. Paper presented at the Proc. the Second International Conferences on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, ACHI 09, Cancun, Mexico.
Sartorato, F., Przybylowski, L., & Sarko, D. K. (2017). Improving therapeutic outcomes in autism spectrum disorders: Enhancing social communication and sensory processing through the use of interactive robots. Journal of psychiatric research, 901, 1–11.
Wood, L. J., Dautenhahn, K., Lehmann, H., Robins, B., Rainer, A., & Syrdal, D. S. (2013a). Robot-Mediated Interviews: Do robots possess advantages over human interviewers when talking to children with special needs? Paper presented at the International Conference on Social Robotics, Bristol, UK.
(2013b). Robot-Mediated Interviews: Does a robotic interviewer impact question difficulty and information recovery? Paper presented at the 12th European AAATE Conference, Vilamoura, Portugal.
Wood, L. J., Dautenhahn, K., Rainer, A., Robins, B., Lehmann, H., & Syrdal, D. S. (2013). Robot-Mediated Interviews-How Effective Is a Humanoid Robot as a Tool for Interviewing Young Children? PLOS ONE, 8(3), e59448.
Wood, L. J., Lehmann, H., Dautenhahn, K., Robins, B., Rainer, A., & Syrdal, D. S. (2014). Robot-Mediated Interviews with Children: What do potential users think? Paper presented at the AISB Symposium New Frontiers in HRI.
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Chandra, Shruti, Garima Gupta, Torrey Loucks & Kerstin Dautenhahn
Rasouli, Samira, Garima Gupta, Moojan Ghafurian & Kerstin Dautenhahn
Rasouli, Samira, Garima Gupta, Elizabeth Nilsen & Kerstin Dautenhahn
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 17 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.