Human-Robot Interaction in a service delivery context

Interaction with service robots: Focus on ethical considerations

Start & End Date

01/12/2019 - 31/05/2021

Main Applicant

Etemad-Sajadi, R., EHL Hospitality Business School

External Funding

HES-SO

Project Description

The objective of this research was to identify the way in which users perceive the interaction with a service robot. The focus was on the following dimensions: i) ethical issues, ii) degree of trust for the information given by the robot, iii) feeling of a social presence (the perception that there is personal, sociable, and sensitive human contact), iv) fear of robots, and vi) emotional appeal of the interaction with the robots.

Scientific Output

Etemad-Sajadi, R., & Sturman, M. C. (2022). Using service robots for value creation in hotels. International Journal of Social Robotics, 14, 429–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-021-00800-x

EHL Blog Insights

The Clever Use of Robots During COVID-19

When was the last time you shook someone’s hand, went to a festival, had a complete week of school or work without telecommuting? 2020 has been a peculiar year: our social bonds and habits have been profoundly impacted by COVID-19. Social distancing is now the norm and this poses a problem for a lot of industries. How to continue doing what we were doing, without putting ourselves and others in danger?

The market of service robot technologies and telepresence solutions is expected to grow continuously in the next ten years. By 2025, 85% of customer interactions will take place without a human agent.

Here is an overview of the different ways robots are being used during the pandemic.

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In the Media

Frontline service robots: Their role in delivery service

Led by the team of the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor, Dr. Reza Etemad-Sajadi, this research focuses on human-robot interactions in a service delivery context. Through interviews, we gathered four outputs that appear to be important when talking about frontline service robots. But first off, what are frontline service robots? They are defined as “system-based autonomous and adaptable interfaces that interact, communicate and deliver service to an organization’s customers” (Wirtz et al., 2018).

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