Investigating gender-stereotyped interactions with virtual agents in public spaces

Ana Muller, Lydia Penkert, Sebastian Schneider, Anja Richert

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Current research on the impact of gender appearance in virtual agents and social robots highlights the danger of transmitting and solidifying existing gender stereotypes. To investigate gender-stereotyped interaction at public spaces in dependency of virtual agents gender, we varied the gender of a virtual agent at a metro station. We used an ethnographic study approach, combining a two-day behavior observation with semi-structured interviews with descriptive and qualitative system log analysis of four weeks. Our results show that topics of conversation differ in dependency of the virtual agents gender: the male virtual agent was asked about topics such as brothels, drugs and alcohol and insulted frequently, while the female one was asked for relationship status or about flirting.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRO-MAN 2022 - 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
Subtitle of host publicationSocial, Asocial, and Antisocial Robots
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1592-1597
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781728188591
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2022 - Napoli, Italy
Duration: 29 Aug 20222 Sep 2022

Publication series

NameRO-MAN 2022 - 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication: Social, Asocial, and Antisocial Robots

Conference

Conference31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2022
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityNapoli
Period29/08/222/09/22

Keywords

  • feminist HCI
  • gender stereotyping
  • public spaces
  • virtual agent

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Investigating gender-stereotyped interactions with virtual agents in public spaces'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this