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Human-Robot Interaction: Do Looks Matter?

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Abstract

Do you think robots are cute? Funny? Scary? How do robots make you feel? What words would you choose to describe a robot? Find out how people react to robots by building and decorating your own robot in this science project.

Summary

Areas of Science
Robotics
Human Behavior
Difficulty
Method
Scientific Method
Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

A kit is available for your convenience from our partner Home Science Tools®.

Safety

No issues

Credits
Ben Finio, PhD, Science Buddies
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Objective

Find out how people react to two different versions of the same robot (with and without decorations).

Introduction

Robots are machines that can sense and react to their environment. Robots have many different shapes and appearances, both in movies and in real life. Some robots look very much like machines, with lots of metal parts and wires (Figure 1). Some robots are humanoid, or shaped like humans (Figure 2). Some robots look like animals (Figure 3). Robots might have hard plastic or metal "skin" or they might be soft like toys or stuffed animals.

A four-legged robot walks in a field with soldiers in the background. It is made mostly of metal and it does not have a face. Image Credit: Sgt. Sarah Anderson, United States Marine Corps / Public domain
Figure 1. A robot with a metal frame and lots of visible mechanical parts and wires.

Two humanoid white plastic robots. They have eyes, mouths, mostly human-shaped bodies, and arms with hands and fingers. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Ralf Steinberger / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Figure 2. Humanoid robots with a hard plastic surface. (Ralf Steinberger, CC BY 2.0)

A woman sits next to two robots, a dog and an octopus, that are soft and cute. They are covered in fabric and stuffing, like plush toys. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Besteozcan / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Figure 3. Robots that look like stuffed animals. (Besteozcan, CC BY-SA 4.0)

How does looking at the robots in Figures 1, 2, and 3 make you feel? How would you describe the robots? A robot's appearance can have a big impact on how humans react to it. As scientists and engineers develop companion robots that can work alongside humans, it is important to understand how people feel about the robots. The study of how humans react to and interact with robots is called human-robot interaction.

In this science project, you will build two different versions of the same robot. One will be a "plain" robot, with the wires and motors exposed and no additional decorations. The second robot will be decorated. How? That is up to you! Once both of your robots are ready, you will ask volunteers to observe them and fill out surveys describing their reactions. How do you think each robot's appearance will affect people's feelings toward it? Try this project to find out!

Terms and Concepts

Questions

Bibliography

Materials and Equipment Buy Kit

Recommended Project Supplies

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Experimental Procedure

Download PDF of Procedure
This project follows the Scientific Method. Review the steps before you begin.

Working with Human Test Subjects

There are special considerations when designing an experiment involving human subjects. Fairs affiliated with Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) often require an Informed Consent Form (permission sheet) for every participant who is questioned. Consult the rules and regulations of the science fair that you are entering, prior to performing experiments or surveys. Please refer to the Science Buddies documents Projects Involving Human Subjects and Scientific Review Committee for additional important requirements. If you are working with minors, you must get advance permission from the children's parents or guardians (and teachers if you are performing the test while they are in school) to make sure that it is all right for the children to participate in the science fair project. Here are suggested guidelines for obtaining permission for working with minors:

  1. Write a clear description of your science fair project, what you are studying, and what you hope to learn. Include how the child will be tested. Include a paragraph where you get a parent's or guardian's and/or teacher's signature.
  2. Print out as many copies as you need for each child you will be surveying.
  3. Pass out the permission sheet to the children or to the teachers of the children to give to the parents. You must have permission for all the children in order to be able to use them as test subjects.

Build Your Robots

  1. Build two identical robots using the supplies from your Bristlebot robotics kit. You can use the large motors and AA battery packs in the kit to build artbots, brushbots, or junkbots. Which type of robot you decide to build may depend on the materials you have available, but make sure you build two of the same type. Follow the instructions from the proper link to build your robots.
  2. Decorate one of the robots. You can decide how to decorate the robot. For example, you might want to give it a soft covering with a material like felt. You might want to hide the battery pack, motor, and wires so they are not visible. You can give the robot googly eyes or other facial features (nose, mouth, etc.). How you design and decorate your robot is up to you!

See How People React to Your Robots

  1. Make a survey for people to fill out when they observe your robots. You can design your own survey, but here are some ideas:
    1. Ask people to select one word from a list that they think best describes the robot (friendly, funny, cute, scary, mean, etc.).
    2. Ask people to rate the robot's traits (friendly, funny, etc.) each on a 1–5 scale.
    3. Ask people to describe how the robot makes them feel (happy, sad, afraid, etc.). They can choose a single word from a list or rate the words on a 1–5 scale.
  2. Set up a room where your volunteers can watch your robots move around.
    1. Bring the volunteers into the room one person at a time. (You do not want their responses to be biased by seeing the other volunteers' reactions to the robots.)
    2. One at a time, turn each robot on and let the volunteer observe it. Ask the volunteer to fill out the survey for that robot. Make sure you keep track of which survey is for each robot. (You might want to label them "Robot A" and "Robot B.")
    3. Repeat this process for each volunteer.
  3. Analyze your data. How you do this will depend on how you set up your survey.
    1. If you asked people to choose a single word from a list, then add up how many people chose each word for each robot. Make two bar graphs (one for each robot) showing how many people chose each word.
    2. If you asked people to rate words on a 1–5 scale, then calculate an average rating for each word for each robot. To do this, add up all the ratings for that robot, then divide by the number of volunteers. Ask an adult if you need help. Make two bar graphs (one for each robot) showing the average rating for each word.
    3. Are there differences between how people reacted to your two robots? Do you think this is because of the robots' appearance?
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Variations

  • Can you decorate a robot to make it seem scary or less friendly? How do people react to it?
  • Artbots, brushbots, and junkbots all move around randomly. Can you try this project with a steerable robot? How do people react to the robot's movements (for example, driving directly toward them, spinning around in circles, or driving away) in addition to its appearance?
  • You can make a programmable robot with sensors that will react to humans in different ways, including sound, motion, and lights (for example, making angry buzzing sounds vs. making happy chirping sounds, or chasing a person vs. running away). How do people react to different robot behaviors? How is this related to their appearance? Check out the advanced version of this project for more ideas.

Careers

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Robotics Engineer
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Commercial & Industrial Designer
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Have you always loved art? Do you have a good eye for beauty, balance, and form? How would you like to see your designs show up in toy stores? Or in a sporting goods store? Or at a car dealer? Commercial and industrial designers create the shape and form of every type of manufactured good that you can think of—from toys, sporting goods, and medical equipment to high technology products, furniture, toothbrushes, and toasters. They design the form of new products that are as beautiful and… Read more
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Cite This Page

General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Finio, Ben. "Human-Robot Interaction: Do Looks Matter?" Science Buddies, 20 Oct. 2025, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Robotics_p056/robotics/human-robot-interaction-appearance. Accessed 23 June 2026.

APA Style

Finio, B. (2025, October 20). Human-Robot Interaction: Do Looks Matter? Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Robotics_p056/robotics/human-robot-interaction-appearance


Last edit date: 2025-10-20

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