Who should robots adapt to within a multi-party interaction in a public space?

Abstract

Robots in public environments are challenged with socially appropriate interactions with previously unseen users: they need to offer appropriate services and shape their interaction style according to the particular individual's needs and preferences, for example the elderly and children. In addition, interactions in public spaces are not limited to merely two parties, but often involve multi-party situations with changing numbers of participants. The research question of this work is to investigate what rules should a socially competent robot follow in order to adapt to such complex social situations in real-world scenarios.