By Na Li
TU Dublin
Analysis: despite the challenges and potential pitfalls, the possibility of
a social robot working in your local may be closer than you think. You may
have noticed that more and more stories about social robots have appeared
over the last decade. During the Covid-19 pandemic, robots were applied in
different areas to help people because they were safe and convenient. In
hospitals, for example, Moxi, a social delivery robot, can deliver
medication, supplies or lab samples. In nursing, a social robot can care for
old people: for example, a robot called Pepper helped patients with
dementia. We've even seen robots assist staff to deliver food in
restaurants, such as Balla who is working in Dublin's Senbazuru Izakaya.
Moreover, social robots can always attract the attention of children as they
are less intimidating. Thus, it is beneficial for children with autism
spectrum disorders to learn better. The social robot called QTrobot can help
those children to engage in social interaction, reduce anxiety and
disruptive behaviours. As a result, people gradually accept that robots are
involved in their daily life and also enjoy the robots' services and help.
In James Joyce's classic novel Ulysses, he writes that a "good puzzle would
be to cross Dublin without passing a pub". This conundrum has fascinated the
citys literary visitors for years and pubs are a symbol of Ireland abroad.
Indeed, going to the pub is still one of the top choices in many Irish
people's social life, while visiting pubs and enjoying the local pub
atmosphere is also on the list for the most tourists.
But there are some problems with this popularity.
A shortage of workers means the customer experience is not what it used to
be, especially during peak pub hours. Many find theyre waiting a long time
to get even just one drink and it can be hard to get menus or find a seat
easily.
So what about a social robot working in Irish pubs? Imagine one greeting you
with a typical Irish accent when you enter a pub. Would you be surprised?
Would you like them to serve you? Research has showed that some people
showed more interest if a robot works in the Irish pubs, whereas others
prefer to socialise with human pub staff rather than a robot. Several people
mentioned that they hope the robot can help them to get pints or cocktails
more quickly.
What are the functionalities of a social robot working in pubs? For robot
designers and social scientists, it's about anthropomorphism and applying
human-like attributes to the robot. Compared to other public places, Irish
pubs are mainly for adults not for children, so the design of the robots
appearance must take that into account. The kinds of robots which are most
likely to be acceptable and suitable must be considered. For example,
humanlike or humanoid robots (robots that mimic human appearance) are the
most popular design in the field of social robotics.
Then, there is the social robots behaviour. We need to consider the
culture, personality and context which would impact the social robots
behaviours and use these in the design process. More specifically, the
social robots speech should have a sense of Irish humour and an Irish
accent and the body language would be more vivid and natural.
Using artificial intelligence, the social robot can generate the correct
emotional expressions in a social context, and also can detect customers
emotion from peoples facial expression, eye-gaze and body language. If the
robot detects negative emotion from a customer or that they need help, the
robot will start the conversation, and provide a specific service based on
customers requirements. Do they need a table or a menu or more information
on the pub's music or entertainment?
Trust is also important: will both customers and pub owners be comfortable
with social robots working in the bar?
Apart from such basic functionalities as delivery, making cocktails, taking
an order and accepting payment of a bill, the robot may also be required to
estimate if a customer could be drunk and remind or persuade them in a
friendly way to control their alcohol intake. Moreover, the robot can detect
the age of customers exactly, and reject the sale of alcohol to customers
under the legal drinking age.
There are lots of advantages for social robots in the pub, but there are
challenges which should not be ignored. Compared to other public places,
many Irish pubs are located in older buildings, where the environment is
more relaxed and people are free to sit or stand anywhere. In these cases,
it's a challenge for the social robot to move around easily, as well as keep
a certain safety-distance from people.
Data privacy presents another issue, as the robot may collect customer data
and payment details by camera, microphone or sensor. Keeping this data
secure and letting customers know about how to deal with their data are
inevitable difficulties. Trust is also important: will both customers and
pub owners be comfortable with social robots working in the bar?
Designing a trustworthy and acceptable social robot is still a medium to
long term plan in the field of human-robot interaction. Future research and
AI technology will focus on studies that see the social robot endowed with
the full spectrum of capabilities and, to advance the human-robot
interaction fields, also providing evidence on the current technology
readiness level for the real world to let more people use the social robot
for their life better. So what do you think? Want to try to get a pint from
that high-tech social robot by the door instead of the crush at the bar?
RTÉ Technology.
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