Researchers conducted a virtual-reality study where they discovered that humans can experience empathic embarrassment when they see robots going through embarrassing situations.
The study published in the journal Scientific Reports used a combination of subjective ratings and physiological measurements to assess the level to which humans feel empathic embarrassment towards robots. Empathic embarrassment refers to the ability to share in the emotional experience of someone else’s embarrassment.
To do this, the researchers placed participants in a series of virtual environments where both human and robotic avatars went through situations that were mildly embarrassing or non-embarrassing. The situations were designed to elicit feelings of mistake or discomfort towards robots, according to Toyohashi University of Technology.
Two dimensions of empathy were investigated—empathic embarrassment and cognitive empathy. Cognitive empathy refers to the understanding and estimation of the feelings of another individual. The researchers asked the participants to give subjective ratings on a 7-point Likert scale. The participants had to evaluate both their own empathic embarrassment as well as that of the avatars in each scenario.
Most Read 1Chandrayaan-3 mission: Dawn breaks on Moon, all eyes on lander, rover to wake up 2As Indo-Canadian relations sour, anxiety grips Indian students, residents who wish to settle in Canada 3Karan Johar says Sanjay Leela Bhansali did not call him after Rocky Aur Rani: ‘He’s never called me but…’ 4Gadar 2 box office collection day 40: Hit by Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan onslaught, Sunny Deol movie ends BO run with Rs 45 lakh earning 5Shubh’s tour in India cancelled: Why is the Canada-based singer facing the music?Also read | embarrassment, robots, humans, virtual reality, study, empathy, empathic, science, news
The researchers also used skin conductance responses to measure the physiological reactions of participants. Skin conductance response is an established indicator of emotional arousal, according to the university. It provides insights into the intensity of emotions.
During the study, participants reported as experiencing both cognitive empathy and empathic embarrassment towards both the human and robotic avatars when they encountered embarrassing situations. Crucially, both factors were significantly higher in embarrassing scenarios compared to non-embarrassing situations, irrespective of whether it was a human or a robot avatar involved.
Also ReadChandrayaan-3 mission: Dawn breaks on Moon, all eyes on lander, rover to …NASA’s Parker Solar Probe flies through powerful explosion from Sun, take…On India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1 begins collecting data: ISROWatch this space: ‘Alien corpses,’ NASA UFO team director & Webb’s ‘life …
But there was a notable distinction between feelings towards the two types of avatars. Cognitive empathy was found to be higher for human avatars compared to robot avatars. Also, when measuring skin conductance responses, participants showed higher levels of emotional arousal with human avatars compared to robot avatars.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd