Applying Sasang Typology Theory to Robot Appearance Design

Abstract

The concordance between physical appearance and personality to build appropriate images of the robot becomes a critical issue, however, there are few studies concerning integrated approaches toward this interrelationship. This research aims to identify such interrelationship based on the Korean traditional Sasang typology theory which classifies people into four distinctive types in relation to personalities, appearances, and susceptibilities in certain diseases. Through an intensive web-survey, a comprehensive robot identity map w as created. From the correlation analysis, strong correlations between robot physique characteristics and perceived Sasang personality images were found. Interestingly, robot Sasang types and theoretical Sasang types show ed a strong relationship and follow the general tendency of the theory. From the map, several design implications were generated and discussed. It is hoped that these findings can help not only industrial designers to find a design clue at the beginning stage of design process, but also multi-disciplinary experts and professionals to share consensus images of robot during the development process.