“Can you answer questions, Flobi?”: Interactionally defining a robot´s competence as a fitness instructor

Users draw on four sources to judge a robot´s competence: (1) the robot´s voice, (2) physical appearance of and (3) the interaction experience with the robot but also (4) the relationship between the robot´s physical appearance and its conduct. Furthermore, most approaches in social robotics have an outcome-oriented focus and thus use questionnaires to measure a global evaluation of the robot after interaction took place. The present research takes a process-oriented approach to explore the factors relevant in the formation of users´ attitudes toward the robot. To do so, an ethnographic approach (Conversation Analysis) was employed to analyze the micro-coordination between user and robot. We report initial findings from a study in which a robot took the role of a fitness instructor. Our results emphasize that the participant judges step-by-step the robot´s capabilities and differentiates its competence on two levels regarding to the robot´s role: a robot as a (1) social/interactional co-participant and as a (2) fitness instructor.