Factors for Personalization and Localization to Optimize Human–Robot Interaction: A Literature Review

Social service robots are becoming increasingly pervasive in our everyday lives, including in healthcare, education and customer service settings. It is known that different cultures and individuals have an array of diverse expectations when interacting with robots. These expectations influence acceptability and willingness to engage with them. However, previous research in this field mostly focuses on a sole human-related factor that may impact interaction and the acceptability of robots both within and across groups of people. This review aims to synthesize the existing literature on human factors to consider when designing robots that can be personalized or localized (transferred to other cultures). The literature review highlights key studies in this area and synthesizes them into four overarching factors: (1) communication and language, (2) behavior and service, (3) proxemics, and (4) interface design. The review shows that personalization and localization in robotics needs to move beyond catering to simple language preferences or accents. Instead, this encompasses the intricate details of interface design, service expectations, proxemics and individual and cultural communication styles and cultural values that users may possess. This study consequently highlights key considerations when attempting to optimize human–robot interaction across individuals and cultures.