What is it about?
As loneliness increases globally, more people are turning to companion robots for comfort and social support. But what should these robots look like? This study tested three very different types of robots: an ultra-realistic human clone (Geminoid DK), a friendly, cartoonish humanoid (Pepper), and a robotic pet dog (AIBO). We found that making a robot look somewhat human helps people feel supported, but if it becomes too human-like, it actually backfires and decreases the social support people feel. This happens because ultra-realistic robots make people feel unsafe or uneasy. Across all robot types, ensuring users feel psychologically "safe" around the robot is the absolute key to whether they will accept emotional support from it.
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Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Robot designers often assume that the closer a robot looks to a real human, the better we will connect with it. This study proves that assumption wrong and maps out the psychological "sweet spot" for human-robot interaction. It provides a vital warning and blueprint for tech companies: over-engineering a robot's human-likeness can trigger a sense of threat, destroying its value as a companion. For healthcare facilities and tech marketers, this research shows that promoting a companion robot shouldn't just be about how "smart" or "human" it is. Instead, the marketing and user interface must heavily emphasize safety, predictability, and likeability to get users to let their guard down and accept robots into their social circles.
Perspectives
We wanted to pit three robotic celebrities against each other: AIBO the dog, Pepper the cute assistant, and Geminoid DK—which looks so much like a real professor that it routinely shocks people. With the rise of AI companions, we wanted to know where the boundary lies for human comfort. What we found is that psychological safety is the golden thread. It turns out we are perfectly happy getting comfort from a robotic dog or a playful machine, but when a machine looks exactly like us, our psychological defense mechanisms kick in. This research is a reminder that in robotics, design must always serve human comfort, not just technical capability.
Prof Snehasish Banerjee
University of York
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Help please! Deriving social support from Geminoid DK, Pepper, and AIBO as companion robots, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, June 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103577.
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