A Basic Study for Acceptance of Robots as Meal Partners: Number of Robots During Mealtime, Frequency of Solitary Eating, and Past Experience with Robots

Due to the recent lifestyle changes, instances of people eating alone have been increasing. We think robots can be good meal partners without having to risk disease transmission. Furthermore, people are able to eat with robots without worrying about mealtimes. In this study, we determine who are more likely to accept robots as eating partners and compare eating with a single robot to eating with multiple robots. The results revealed that people who have vast experience in interacting with robots and those who have relatively few opportunities to eat alone felt better about eating with robots, whereas those who have numerous opportunities to eat alone enjoyed eating with multiple robots.