Unprecedented possibilities of quadruped robots have driven much research on the technical aspects of these robots. However, the social perception and acceptability of quadruped robots so far remain poorly understood. This work investigates whether the way we design quadruped robots' behaviors can affect people's perception of safety in interactions with these robots. We designed and tested a dominant and submissive personality for the quadruped robot (Boston Dynamics Spot). These were tested in two different walking scenarios (head-on and crossing interactions) in a 2x2 within-subjects study. We collected both behavioral data and subjective reports on participants' perception of the interaction. The results highlight that participants perceived the submissive robot as safer compared to the dominant one. The behavioral dynamics of interactions did not change depending on the robot's appearance. Participants' previous in-person experience with the robot was associated with lower subjective safety ratings but did not correlate with the interaction dynamics. Our findings have implications for the design of quadruped robots and contribute to the body of knowledge on the social perception of non-humanoid robots. We call for a stronger standing of felt experiences in human-robot interaction research.

翻译：四足机器人的空前可能性推动了大量关于其技术层面的研究，然而目前人们对四足机器人的社会感知与接受度仍知之甚少。本研究探讨四足机器人行为设计方式能否影响人与机器人交互过程中的安全感知。我们为四足机器人（波士顿动力公司Spot）设计了支配型与顺从型两种人格特质，并在两种不同行走场景（迎面相遇与交叉通过）中通过2×2被试内实验进行测试。我们收集了参与者对交互感知的行为数据与主观报告。结果表明，相较于支配型机器人，参与者认为顺从型机器人更安全。机器人外观并未改变交互行为动态。参与者此前与机器人面对面接触的经历与较低的主观安全评分相关，但与交互动态无显著关联。本研究对四足机器人设计具有启示意义，并丰富了关于非人形机器人社会感知的知识体系。我们呼吁在人机交互研究中强化对切身感受体验的关注。