| Building on traditional technology acceptance and human-robot interaction (HRI) research, this research sought to investigate operational HRI factors affecting robot use within the context of a high-risk environment. Technology acceptance models have previously focused on perceived usefulness and ease of use, but have tended to ignore barriers or external factors associated with technology adoption. The present studies investigate the role of barriers such as operational risk and lack of HRI trust in determining acceptance of robots. Experiment 1 empirically refined the experimental methodology used in Experiment 2 to investigate factors affecting robot use. Overall, the results highlighted the influence of HRI trust and operational risk on the likelihood of robot use; in addition, they shed light on the importance of the configuration of the robot capabilities needed for task completion. With the proposition that these relationships were moderated by the robot configuration, HRI trust was shown to increase the overall likelihood of robot use and only slight variations were attributed to increased operational risk. HRI trust was shown to have both a positive and negative influence in terms of the operational risks associated with on robot use. In fact, instances when HRI trust is high may lead to using a robot that is not even properly configured for the high-risk task. Therefore, it is beneficial to understand the underlying mechanisms that influence the perception (right or wrong) surrounding unmanned systems. The findings from this research can be used to enhance the utility and acceptance of new or existing unmanned systems. |
