“We-mode” opens the next door towards robot-design

Abstract

In recent years, human-robot interactions (HRIs) have been increasing in importance with the increased use of communication robots throughout the world. The traditional approach in robotics has been to read a person’s mental state and react to it. We focus on the next approach, “we-mode” through which the robot generates the atmosphere for smooth interactions. We-mode is one mode of cognition in which each member of a group shares the others’ mental state through their interactions. Consequently, it is anticipated that they would perform beyond the sum of each performance. In the future, this mode will become necessary in HRIs. While the social contingency between a person and a robot is key to the expression of we-mode, existing robots are not designed to realize the three-term contingency. In this paper, we review and analyze the recent trends in robot-design and propose the need for a drastic overhaul of robot-design.