Reading or iPad Gaming? Investigating Socially Interactive Robotic Bookshelf Proactively Engages Children in Reading Physical Books

Could robotic furnishings become reading companions for children? This paper investigates how a socially interactive robotic bookshelf may influence children’s enthusiasm, persistence, and enjoyment in reading when they are absorbed in other, usually more addictive activities such as playing iPad games or toys. We designed and developed a low-fidelity, elephant-like robotic bookshelf, and used WoZ technique to conduct an experiment in a public library in Singapore with 7 child-parent pairs to assess the effectiveness of this socially interactive, mobile robotic bookshelf in attracting children to read physical books while iPad games and toys were present. The results indicate that the robotic bookshelf was successful in attracting 5 out of 7 children to read books, with variations observed in the timing of switching to book reading from playing iPad games or toys. Currently, most robot reading companions are tabletop robots passively waiting for children to come to the robots and read with them. This study, however, highlights a unique approach in which a mobile, robotic bookshelf reading companion proactively engages children in reading by bringing physical books to them. In a modern world where screen and other addictions become increasingly real for children, such mobile robotic bookshelves have great potential to benefit children’s literacy and overall development.