Soft robotics technology has been proposed for a number of applications that involve human–robot interaction. It is commonly presumed that soft robots are perceived as more natural, and thus more appealing, than rigid robots, an assumption that has not hitherto been tested or validated. This study investigates human perception of and physical interaction with soft robots as compared with rigid robots. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted an observational study to explore whether soft robots are perceived as more natural, and what types of interactions soft robots encourage. In a between-subjects study, participants interacted with a soft robotic tentacle or a rigid robot of a similar shape. The interactions were video recorded, and data was also obtained from questionnaires (N_video = 123, N_quest = 94). Despite their drastically different appearances and materials, we found no significant differences in how appealing or natural the robots were rated to be. Appeal was positively associated with perceived naturalness in all cases, however we observed a wide variation in how participants define “natural”. Although participants showed no clear preference, qualitative analysis of video data indicated that soft robots and rigid robots elicit different interaction patterns and behaviors. The findings highlight the key role of physical embodiment and materiality in human–robot interaction, and challenge existing assumptions about what makes robots appear natural.

已经提出软机器人技术用于涉及人机交互的许多应用中。通常认为，与刚性机器人相比，软机器人被认为是更自然的，因此更具吸引力，这一假设迄今尚未得到测试或验证。这项研究调查了与刚性机器人相比，人类对软机器人的感知以及与软机器人的物理交互。使用混合方法，我们进行了一项观察性研究，以探讨软机器人是否被认为更自然，以及软机器人鼓励哪种类型的交互。在受试者之间的研究中，参与者与形状相似的软机器人触手或刚性机器人互动。互动进行了视频记录，还从问卷中获得了数据（N个_视频 = 123，N_追求 = 94）。尽管它们的外观和材料截然不同，但我们发现这些机器人在吸引力和自然度方面均无显着差异。在所有情况下，上诉与感知到的自然性都呈正相关，但是，我们发现参与者对“自然”的定义存在很大差异。尽管参与者没有明显的偏好，但对视频数据的定性分析表明，软机器人和刚性机器人会产生不同的交互方式和行为。研究结果突出了物理体现和重要性在人机交互中的关键作用，并挑战了有关使机器人看起来自然的现有假设。