As humans and robots interact more frequently, there has been an understandable desire to better understand how effective cooperation can be enhanced.  The latest effort comes via a new study from Cornell Tech, which explores whether giving robots clothing can help our acceptance of them.

“Rather than being merely for decoration, clothing can serve a practical purpose and be closely tied to what robots actually need,” the researchers say. “Adding easy-to-read physical elements can make the function of a system clearer and more intuitive for people to interact with.”

Clothes maketh the robot

For humans, clothes perform a multitude of functions, from improving our appearance to providing practical benefits.  Clothes also perform a valuable role in signalling information about the role of the person wearing the garments.  Clothes may also help to highlight particular actions that are crucial to our role.

These things are fairly well established among humans, but the authors highlight that this is not simply a case of putting human clothes on a robot and assuming the job is done.  Instead, robot clothing can perform unique functions.

For instance, robot cashiers could have a mobile payment system built into its arm to allow customers to easily pay for items.  They could even include various features that help humans understand where robots are moving next or what function they plan on performing.

“I think this work is important to helping engineers and technologists understand the functional importance of aesthetics and signaling in design,” the researchers conclude. “It’s not ‘just fashion’ – what the robot wears helps people understand how to interact with it in ways that are critical to safety and task execution.”