Measuring human perceptions of expressivity in natural and artificial systems through the live…
By Amy LaViers
A research Article Open Access [Catie Cuan](/artists/catie-cuan) *, Erin Berl , and [Amy LaViers](/artists/amy-laviers) originally published by De Gruyter . [Time to compile](/orgs/codame/projects/time-to-compile) at the [CODAME](/orgs/codame) [ART+TECH Festival](/orgs/codame/events/codame-art-tech-festival-2013) (2018) #ArtoBots Live performance is a vehicle where theatrical devices are used to exemplify, probe, or question how humans think about objects, each other, and themselves. This paper presents work using this vehicle to explore human perceptions of robot and human capabilities. The paper documents four performances at three distinct venues where user studies were conducted in parallel to live performance. A set of best practices for successful collection of data in this manner over the course of these trials is developed. Then, results of the studies are presented, giving insight into human opinions of a variety of natural and artificial systems. In particular, participants are asked to rate the expressivity of 12 distinct systems, displayed on stage, as well as themselves. The results show trends ranking objects lowest, then robots, then humans, then self, highest. Moreover, objects involved in the show were generally rated higher after the performance. Qualitative responses give further insight into how viewers experienced watching human performers alongside elements of technology. This work lays a framework for measuring human perceptions of robotic systems and factors that influence this perception inside live performance and suggests black that through the lens of expressivity systems of similar type are rated similarly by audience members. Roboticists have a task to complete in the process of incorporating robots into new, human-facing environments. As artificial, robotic bodies begin to co-exist alongside humans in their daily lives, a new story is written. What will people think about these new counterparts? How will we feel? What new ideas will these distinct bodies spark for humans and how will we make sense of them? How will we judge ourselves in new environments alongside machine counterparts? Historically, the answer to these questions have been answered by artists. When Martha Graham used deep, bended contractions to express the struggle of the Modern Era, she helped people value and exalt the struggles of life [1]. When Yvonne Rainer showcased pedestrian, plain movement, she made a statement against the affective habits of performance, reflecting the sensibility of post Modern thought [2]. When Cynthia Oliver showcased black men onstage, she pointed to the dangers of race and gender stereotypes in inhibiting human expression and compassion, relating to a socio-political movement of her time: Black Lives Matter [3]. Thus, the utility of the theater is that it allows for a transcendence of the audience from their daily, conscious, real life to the spiritual, the unreal, the unconscious — or any other host of thematic venues: nature, struggle, and injustice. As a practical pursuit, the theater allows artists to hold up a prism to daily experience, transporting the motion of bodies into new, heightened contexts. [The creation](/orgs/codame/projects/the-creation) of this live, onstage fiction allows artists to show audiences new ways to think about familiar ideas — or familiar ways to think about new ideas. Therefore, artists also have a task to complete in the process of incorporating robots into new, human-facing environments: telling new tales of new bodies in space to grapple with and roboticists have new measurements to take outside of the lab in varied contexts and themes for how people respond to robotic systems in varied settings and next to varied themes. The theater, then, is a setting where both parties can work together to present bridges between the fantastical and the normal and establish new conventions of moving machines in our environments. To get there, we must establish best practices for merging research inquiry with artistic exploration and collecting data from human audience members in parallel to theatrical experiences. A recent report from the International Federation of Robotics found that the number of worldwide in-home robots is growing quickly and may reach 31 million by 2019 [4]. However, acceptance, adoption, and consistent use of in-home robots requires an understanding of how robots are perceived by the general public. To this end, researchers have worked towards common metrics to measure aspects of human-robot interaction [5, 6]. The social and performance shaping factors outlined in these metrics have focused on measuring the affects robots have on the humans working with them or nearby.