A dialog system for comparative user studies on robot verbal behavior

In domestic social robot systems the dialog system is often the main user interface. The verbal behavior of such a robot, therefore, plays crucial role in human-robot interaction. Comparative user studies on various verbal behaviors of a robot can effectively contribute to human-robot interaction research. In this paper we present a dialog system that can be easily configured to demonstrate different verbal, initiative-taking behaviors for a robot and, thus, can be used as a platform for such comparative user studies. The pilot study we conducted does not only provide strong evidence for this suitability, but also reveals benefits of comparative studies on a real robot in general