Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting

Victor Zhi Heung Ngo; Roma Patel; Rachel Ramchurn; Alan Chamberlain; Ayse Kucukyilmaz

doi:10.1007/978-981-96-3525-2_29

Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting

Victor Zhi Heung Ngo
, Roma Patel
, Rachel Ramchurn
, Alan Chamberlain
, Ayse Kucukyilmaz

Department of Psychology

University of Nottingham

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Proceeding (ISBN)

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation of 18 children's in-the-wild experiences with the autonomous robot arm performer NED (Never-Ending Dancer) within the Thingamabobas installation, showcased across the UK. We detail NED's design, including costume, behaviour, and human interactions, all integral to the installation. Our observational analysis revealed three key challenges in child-robot interactions: 1) Initiating and maintaining engagement, 2) Lack of robot expressivity and reciprocity, and 3) Unmet expectations. Our findings show that children are naturally curious, and adept at interacting with a robotic art performer. However, our observations emphasise the critical need to optimise human-robot interaction (HRI) systems through careful consideration of audience's capabilities, perceptions, and expectations, within the performative arts context, to enable engaging and meaningful experiences, especially for young audiences.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Social Robotics
Editors	Oskar Palinko, Leon Bodenhagen, John-John Cabibihan, Kerstin Fischer, Selma Šabanović, Katie Winkle, Laxmidhar Behera, Shuzhi Sam Ge, Dimitrios Chrysostomou, Wanyue Jiang, Hongsheng He
Place of Publication	Singapore
Publisher	Springer Nature
Pages	340-353
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Print)	978-981-96-3525-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-3525-2_29
Publication status	Published - 25 Mar 2025

Keywords

engagement
regulation
policy
HCI
equity
fairness
responsible
bias
design
class
higher education
inclusive
representation
technology
methods
governance
authentic

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10.1007/978-981-96-3525-2_29

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Ngo, V. Z. H., Patel, R., Ramchurn, R., Chamberlain, A., & Kucukyilmaz, A. (2025). Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting. In O. Palinko, L. Bodenhagen, J.-J. Cabibihan, K. Fischer, S. Šabanović, K. Winkle, L. Behera, S. S. Ge, D. Chrysostomou, W. Jiang, & H. He (Eds.), Social Robotics (pp. 340-353). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-3525-2_29

Ngo, Victor Zhi Heung ; Patel, Roma ; Ramchurn, Rachel et al. / Dancing with a Robot : An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting. Social Robotics. editor / Oskar Palinko ; Leon Bodenhagen ; John-John Cabibihan ; Kerstin Fischer ; Selma Šabanović ; Katie Winkle ; Laxmidhar Behera ; Shuzhi Sam Ge ; Dimitrios Chrysostomou ; Wanyue Jiang ; Hongsheng He. Singapore : Springer Nature, 2025. pp. 340-353

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title = "Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting",

abstract = "This paper presents an evaluation of 18 children's in-the-wild experiences with the autonomous robot arm performer NED (Never-Ending Dancer) within the Thingamabobas installation, showcased across the UK. We detail NED's design, including costume, behaviour, and human interactions, all integral to the installation. Our observational analysis revealed three key challenges in child-robot interactions: 1) Initiating and maintaining engagement, 2) Lack of robot expressivity and reciprocity, and 3) Unmet expectations. Our findings show that children are naturally curious, and adept at interacting with a robotic art performer. However, our observations emphasise the critical need to optimise human-robot interaction (HRI) systems through careful consideration of audience's capabilities, perceptions, and expectations, within the performative arts context, to enable engaging and meaningful experiences, especially for young audiences.",

keywords = "engagement, regulation, policy, HCI, equity, fairness, responsible, bias, design, class, higher education, inclusive, representation, technology, methods, governance, authentic",

author = "Ngo, \{Victor Zhi Heung\} and Roma Patel and Rachel Ramchurn and Alan Chamberlain and Ayse Kucukyilmaz",

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language = "English",

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Ngo, VZH, Patel, R, Ramchurn, R, Chamberlain, A & Kucukyilmaz, A 2025, Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting. in O Palinko, L Bodenhagen, J-J Cabibihan, K Fischer, S Šabanović, K Winkle, L Behera, SS Ge, D Chrysostomou, W Jiang & H He (eds), Social Robotics. Springer Nature, Singapore, pp. 340-353. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-3525-2_29

Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting. / Ngo, Victor Zhi Heung; Patel, Roma; Ramchurn, Rachel et al.
Social Robotics. ed. / Oskar Palinko; Leon Bodenhagen; John-John Cabibihan; Kerstin Fischer; Selma Šabanović; Katie Winkle; Laxmidhar Behera; Shuzhi Sam Ge; Dimitrios Chrysostomou; Wanyue Jiang; Hongsheng He. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2025. p. 340-353.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Proceeding (ISBN)

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AU - Kucukyilmaz, Ayse

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N2 - This paper presents an evaluation of 18 children's in-the-wild experiences with the autonomous robot arm performer NED (Never-Ending Dancer) within the Thingamabobas installation, showcased across the UK. We detail NED's design, including costume, behaviour, and human interactions, all integral to the installation. Our observational analysis revealed three key challenges in child-robot interactions: 1) Initiating and maintaining engagement, 2) Lack of robot expressivity and reciprocity, and 3) Unmet expectations. Our findings show that children are naturally curious, and adept at interacting with a robotic art performer. However, our observations emphasise the critical need to optimise human-robot interaction (HRI) systems through careful consideration of audience's capabilities, perceptions, and expectations, within the performative arts context, to enable engaging and meaningful experiences, especially for young audiences.

AB - This paper presents an evaluation of 18 children's in-the-wild experiences with the autonomous robot arm performer NED (Never-Ending Dancer) within the Thingamabobas installation, showcased across the UK. We detail NED's design, including costume, behaviour, and human interactions, all integral to the installation. Our observational analysis revealed three key challenges in child-robot interactions: 1) Initiating and maintaining engagement, 2) Lack of robot expressivity and reciprocity, and 3) Unmet expectations. Our findings show that children are naturally curious, and adept at interacting with a robotic art performer. However, our observations emphasise the critical need to optimise human-robot interaction (HRI) systems through careful consideration of audience's capabilities, perceptions, and expectations, within the performative arts context, to enable engaging and meaningful experiences, especially for young audiences.

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KW - fairness

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KW - bias

KW - design

KW - class

KW - higher education

KW - inclusive

KW - representation

KW - technology

KW - methods

KW - governance

KW - authentic

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A2 - Ge, Shuzhi Sam

A2 - Chrysostomou, Dimitrios

A2 - Jiang, Wanyue

A2 - He, Hongsheng

PB - Springer Nature

CY - Singapore

ER -

Ngo VZH, Patel R, Ramchurn R, Chamberlain A, Kucukyilmaz A. Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting. In Palinko O, Bodenhagen L, Cabibihan JJ, Fischer K, Šabanović S, Winkle K, Behera L, Ge SS, Chrysostomou D, Jiang W, He H, editors, Social Robotics. Singapore: Springer Nature. 2025. p. 340-353 doi: 10.1007/978-981-96-3525-2_29

Dancing with a Robot: An Experimental Study of Child-Robot Interaction in a Performative Art Setting

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