Thermal Feedback for Transparency in Human-Robot Interaction

Abstract: Robots can support humans in tedious tasks, as well as provide social support. However, the decision-making and behavior of robots is not always clear to the human interaction partner. In this work, we discuss the opportunity of using thermal feedback as an additional modality to create transparent interactions. We then present scenarios where thermal feedback is incorporated into the interaction e.g. to unobtrusively communicate the behavior of the robot. We highlight the limitations and challenges of temperature-based feedback, which can be explored in future research.