Don’t Throw Me, I Will Cry: Developing a Robot That Responds Emotionally to Rough Handling

As societies age rapidly, baby-sized robots using non-verbal, infant-like interactions have gained attention for their potential emotional benefits, even for users with cognitive impairments. Although occasional rough handling can disrupt natural interactions with these robots, little attention has been paid to mechanisms that recognize such behaviors and respond appropriately. To address this issue, we implemented and evaluated a function that detects rough handling using onboard inertial sensors and triggers crying sounds in a baby-sized robot. The experimental results indicated that while this crying response effectively signaled the robot’s discomfort—leading participants to perceive it as "experiencing unpleasantness"—it did not improve the impression ratings of the robot or significantly increase users’ guilt. These findings are likely influenced by the short-term, task-driven nature of the experiment, necessitating further investigation in more natural, long-term interactions.