\n<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all instinctively clung to another person when frightened, if only as a child clutching our mother\u2019s hand. But if that person is scared, too, this behavior may not have the desired calming effect. And a new study, published in the journal Emotion, suggests that a robot that mimics human breathing can also pass on frightened feelings.<\/p>\n
The researchers developed round fluffy robots with motorized ribcages that can simulate breathing by expanding and contracting. More than 100 participants held these robots, which breathed in a stable pattern, in an accelerated \u201cfearful\u201d manner, or not at all, while the participants watched a scary clip from The Shining.<\/p>\n
The team found that the heart rates of people holding hyperventilating robots increased the most, compared with those holding chilled-out or stationary robots. Participants reported that they perceived the robots as \u201cafraid,\u201d supporting the idea that they had \u201ccaught\u201d the robot\u2019s emotional state. \u201cIt\u2019s the first study to show we can exacerbate emotion experiences using breathing robots,\u201d says psychologist Zachary Witkower of the University of Amsterdam, who led the study. \u201cIt has implications for understanding human-robot interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Interaction between humans and robots is usually studied through visual and spoken exchanges. \u201cThe touch aspect is novel and interesting,\u201d says Eric Vanman, a psychologist at the University of Queensland in Australia, who studies human interaction with emerging technologies. \u201cIt\u2019s probably going to cause other researchers to look at the information we get from touch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, participants holding steady-breathing robots showed slower heart rates. This difference wasn\u2019t significant, but it suggests that contact with a steady breather might calm one\u2019s emotions. Previous research supports this: \u201cThere\u2019s evidence that touching animals and humans can have calming effects,\u201d Vanman says.<\/p>\n
If so, researchers could develop therapeutic devices that help us attain desired emotional states. \u201cWe\u2019ve already started discussions with clinical psychologists,\u201d Witkower says. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on developing dynamic robots for regulating anxiety.\u201d The work could also inspire wearable devices that safely boost thrilling experiences, such as video games and horror films, Vanman adds.<\/p>\n
Vanman would like to see future studies measure respiration, to check whether the heart rate change is linked to people matching the robots\u2019 breathing patterns, as well as other indicators. Witkower and his colleagues plan to track additional markers in future studies, and they hope to examine whether breathing robots could sense and react to human physiology automatically.<\/p>\n
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