A collaborative research team consisting of Associate Professor Mitsuaki Kitazaki of the Department of Information and Intelligent Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology and Professor Shoji Itakura of the Psychology Laboratory, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University is the first to show evidence that humans sympathize with robots in painful situations. It was measured by brain waves.We also clarified the difference between brain waves for people who are likely to hurt and for robots.
In the experiment, 15 healthy adults were photographed with a knife sticking into the hand of a human or robot (painful photo) and a photo with a knife away from the hand (painless photo). I measured the brain waves while observing.The brain wave components related to pain and non-pain were basically the same for humans and robots.However, there was a difference in P3 (the electrode on the crown), which is said to be a higher-order component of empathy.In the first half (350-500ms from the photo presentation), the human photo shifted to more positive when there was pain, and this effect was small or not seen in the robot.In the second half (500-650ms), both humans and robots shifted to positive when they had pain, and the difference between humans and robots disappeared.
The first half of P3 is said to be related to the perspective of others.In other words, we sympathize with humans and robots in almost the same way, but at the rise of higher-order sympathy, it is difficult to stand from the robot's point of view, so the brain wave component of sympathy is attenuated. It is suggested to do.
Nowadays, various robots are becoming familiar and are entering our daily lives.The results of this research are expected to lead to the development of robots that people can sympathize with and feel at ease.
