Robots as Human Companions: A Review

Abstract

The field of robotics has grown exponentially over the years, especially the social aspect has been given a lot of attention. Although there is a significant amount of research on robots being used as social human companions, there is a lack of a comprehensive study. The lack of knowledge includes the types of robots used, their features, interaction modalities and deployment scenarios. To address this knowledge gap, we have conducted a systematic literature review of 98 relevant articles. The findings suggest that anthropomorphic and zoomorphic robots are more popular as human companions while there is a lack of interest in functional and caricatured robots. Also, human-like and animal-like features are implemented more in them. A lack of utilizing the mobility of robots can be seen in the research and thus outdoor implementation of companion robots is seen very rarely. Moreover, the understanding of human-robot companionship needs a clearer definition.