Exploring the Effects of (Re)Embodiment on Perceptions of Robot Teammates in Virtual Reality Environments

This study explores how robot embodiment influences human perceptions of robot teammates in virtual reality (VR) environments. In a mixed-design experiment, we simulated an immersive control room where participants enacted teaming with autonomous robots to respond to emergency events. We investigated the effects of robot re-embodiment during VR collaboration, comparing avatar type (machinelike, augmented, humanlike) for different robot types (a drone, vehicle, and humanoid) on perceptions of robot teammates. We found increased anthropomorphism improved perceptions of the robots' non-verbal expressiveness and bodily-based capabilities but reduced the perceived appearance-based trustworthiness of the robots. Despite their limited non-verbal communication abilities, machinelike embodiments were perceived as more suitable for VR interaction. At the same time, our results suggest that augmented forms offer a compromise, improving the non-verbal communication capabilities of non-anthropomorphic robots with little impact on perceptions of intelligence, trustworthiness, or social abilities. These findings highlight the trade-offs in designing multi-embodied artificial teammates and suggest that alignment between appearance and functionality is critical for effective VR-based human-robot teams.