A naturalistic laboratory setup for real-world HRI studies

Abstract

We present our novel naturalistic laboratory setup that facilitates the presentation of real-world live-action stimuli by physically present actors in a controlled manner. Participants observe liveaction stimuli through a screen, which is surrounded by curtains, akin to a theatre experience, and promptly evaluate them when the screen turns to its opaque mode. Additionally, we introduce key components of the setup, including curtains, an actor PC, a security camera, and a bell, and the insights we gained during the task development. This innovative setup holds promise for advancing real-world investigations in Human-Robot Interaction.