Nonverbal Behavior of Service Robots in Social Interactions - A Survey on Recent Studies

This study presents a literature review focused on nonverbal communication in human-robot interaction (HRI) that involves service robots with social capabilities. We aim to list the types of robots used and nonverbal communication cues examined in the reviewed studies; and the main research objectives, participant characteristics, data collection methods, and primary findings of these studies. To achieve this, we used the databases of WoS, Scopus and EBSCO to conduct a literature review on utilization of nonverbal cues by both humans and robots during HRI. The results obtained from 39 relevant open access academic papers published from 2006 to 2023 suggest that enhancing the quality of communication between humans and service robots must be improved, while there are several aspects that require more thorough exploring, needed to strengthen robot self-efficacy, trust and trustworthiness in HRI or overcome cultural differences. The results emphasize the importance of nonverbal communication in shaping the dynamics of interactions between humans and service robots.