Publication
Human perception in social tasks: a comparative evaluation of autonomous and teleoperated robots
Journal Article (2026)
Journal
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Pages
234-241
Volume
11
Number
1
Doc link
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2025.3632091
File
Authors
Projects associated
Abstract
Robots and artificial intelligence technologies are becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives. The introduction of humanoid robots into everyday settings is a gradual but ongoing process—one that society is already beginning to navigate. Yet this shift raises important questions: Who or what is truly behind these physical agents? And can we, as users, perceive differences in our interactions depending on whether a robot acts autonomously or it’s teleoperated by a human? In this study, we present the results of an experiment in which participants interacted with a robot under two control conditions—autonomous and teleoperated—while it performed two distinct tasks in both static and dynamic movement scenarios. In our results, human operators outperformed autonomous systems in tasks requiring spatial awareness and contextual reasoning. Conversely, the autonomous robot—powered by a Large Language Model and operating without visual input—was perceived more favorably in tasks that demanded rapid access to broad and diverse information.
Categories
intelligent robots, telerobotics.
Author keywords
Social HRI, natural dialog for HRI, telerobotics and teleoperation
Scientific reference
L.B. Hriscu, A. Sanfeliu and A. Garrell Zulueta. Human perception in social tasks: a comparative evaluation of autonomous and teleoperated robots. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 11(1): 234-241, 2026.
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