Determining the Most Effective Way of Ensuring a Tidying-Up Behavior: Comparison of Effects of Reminders Using Oral Instruction, Posters, and Robots

Abstract

A common method for encouraging a user to tidy up his/her office or school desk is to provide oral instructions or displaying posters. Some researchers have proposed a robot system to encourage users to tidy up. However, little attention has been paid to performing a comparative analysis of the various methods for motivating users to tidy up. In this study, we investigated the effects of motivating participants using verbal reminders, posters, and robots. Our results showed that urging users using vibrations produced by a robot is more effective than using oral instructions or posters. Particularly, using a robot is effective in reducing microslips and maintaining the motivation for tidying up.