Design Space Survey on Social Robotics in the Market

Abstract

Socially interactive robots are being introduced in daily life as common objects that facilitate people’s life. A wide range of possibilities are offered and the trends show a growing market. In this survey 40 commercial robots were analysed to evaluate the state of the art from a design space perspective, aspects like embodiment, task, social role, context of use, DOF (Degrees of Freedom) and user studies performed on the robot are included. As a result, a clear design pattern was identified: an egg-shaped, white plastic robot with a rendered face that displays expression of emotions and a speech interface is the common base of the majority of the social robots available in the market. The preference for this kind of embodiment is not even studied nor documented in the literature and varies according to the target group and culture.