"The robot may not notice my discomfort" – Examining the Experience of Vulnerability for Trust in Human-Robot Interaction

Ensuring trust in human-robot interaction (HRI) is considered essential for widespread use of robots in society and everyday life. While the majority of studies use game-based and high-risk scenarios with low familiarity to gain a deeper understanding of human trust in robots, scenarios with more subtle trust violations that could happen in everyday life situations are less often considered. In this paper, we present a theory-driven approach to studying the situated trust in HRI by focusing on the experience of vulnerability. Focusing on vulnerability not only challenges previous work on trust in HRI from a theoretical perspective, but is also useful for guiding empirical investigations. As a first proof-of-concept study, we conducted an interactive online survey that demonstrates that it is possible to measure human experience of vulnerability in the ordinary, mundane, and familiar situation of clothes shopping. We conclude that the inclusion of subtle trust violation scenarios occurring in the everyday life situation of clothes shopping enables a better understanding of situated trust in HRI, which is of special importance when considering more near-future applications of robots.