Project Report: Requirements for a Social Robot as an Information Provider in the Public Sector

TL;DR

This paper explores integrating humanoid social robots into public sector customer service, focusing on necessary skills, interaction requirements, and evaluating user preferences through a project with Kiel City Council.

Contribution

It presents a novel application scenario, identifies key robot capabilities, and demonstrates the effectiveness of large language model-based natural language processing in public sector interactions.

Findings

Humanoid robots with NLP and gestures are preferred over tablets.

The project developed and tested a robot application in a municipal setting.

Connecting ACT-R architecture enhances robot-human dialogue.

Abstract

Is it possible to integrate a humanoid social robot into the work processes or customer care in an official environment, e.g. in municipal offices? If so, what could such an application scenario look like and what skills would the robot need to have when interacting with human customers? What are requirements for this kind of interactions? We have devised an application scenario for such a case, determined the necessary or desirable capabilities of the robot, developed a corresponding robot application and carried out initial tests and evaluations in a project together with the Kiel City Council. One of the most important insights gained in the project was that a humanoid robot with natural language processing capabilities based on large language models as well as human-like gestures and posture changes (animations) proved to be much more preferred by users compared to standard browser-based solutions on tablets for an information system in the City Council. Furthermore, we propose a connection of the ACT-R cognitive architecture with the robot, where an ACT-R model is used in interaction with the robot application to cognitively process and enhance a dialogue between human and robot.