Attitudes toward autonomous service robots at real-life events reveal social behaviors

Researchers from Eötvös Loránd University and the HUN-REN–ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group studied how people responded to an autonomous service robot at public events. Their mobile, nonhumanoid robot, Biscee, moved through crowds carrying free candy, while a young woman offered candy in the same setting for comparison. The work was published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports.

Visitors watched the robot more often than the human server, but they were not more likely to step away from it or avoid it. This indicated that, despite its novelty and visibility, people appeared broadly as comfortable sharing space with the robot as with the human. Biscee also continued to attract attention while carrying an empty tray: people looked at it, pointed, waved, and touched it as often as when it distributed candy. The researchers therefore concluded that the robot itself, rather than the sweets, was the main draw.

The robot’s candy tray was emptied faster than the human server’s during every trial. The difference was not simply because more people approached the robot. Instead, people frequently took two or more candies from it, whereas they did not do so when taking candy from the human. The researchers suggested that interacting with a robot may reduce the social pressure to follow norms such as taking only one item.

Observed behavior and reported feelings did not fully align. Although participants did not physically avoid Biscee more than the human server, some said they felt mildly uncomfortable when the robot came very near, describing its approach as somewhat intrusive. The study emphasizes combining behavioral observations with self-reports during social-robot development, since outward behavior alone may not reveal users’ preferences or unease. It also suggests that even simple robots can handle routine service roles in crowded public spaces, while human-robot coexistence requires further research.