Why robots need body for mind communication - an attempt of eye-contact between human and robot

Abstract

An eye-contact robot, a robot which can establish an eye-contact with humans is being developed. Most researchers agree that an eye-contact is not simply "simultaneously looking at each other's eyes", but a mutual recognition of a shared attention by an intentional agent. Our argument is that an eye-contact is itself a procedure to confirm the partner's intentionality (being an intentional agent). The aim of our research are explained, and the result of an interaction experiment is reported. It is found that an eye-contact from a robot has some effect on the stance a human take to the robot.