Kohei Ogawa

Operators of teleoperated social robots often face challenges in adjusting their voice due to limited feedback about the remote situation. This makes it hard to determine a suitable speaking volume compared to face-to-face conversations. Such difficulties can lead to unclear communication and operator insecurity about their vocal delivery. A primary difficulty is estimating the appropriate voice volume based on the physical distance between the robot and the interlocutor. To tackle this, we introduce a straightforward interface improvement: a voice volume gauge that shows the difference between the operator’s current speaking volume and an ideal volume estimated by the system. We developed the gauge and conducted a controlled user study comparing scenarios with and without the gauge. The findings indicate that (1) the gauge was simple to use and reduced operator anxiety, (2) operator vocalizations became acoustically closer to those observed in face-to-face settings, and (3) interlocutors perceived the vocalizations as more natural when the gauge was used. This research offers a practical design to help operators adjust their voice in teleoperated robot systems, specifically by reducing the difference in sensory information between remote and in-person communication settings.