Interactional Dynamics in User Groups: Answering a Robot's Question in Adult-Child Constellations

Abstract

The paper explores the interactional dynamics within groups of visitors (children & adults) who are interacting with an autonomous museum guide robot. Using the example of question-answer sequences, analysis reveals that 'answering' tends to be a process of interactional negotiation at the end of which a 'result' is addressed to the robot. This process, however, is often not transparent to the robot and considered solely as "silence" which leads to the disregard of the users' attempts to provide an answer.