Unveiling the Power of Voice! The Impact of Educational Robots' Voice Gender and Communication Style on Users' Perception, Visual Attention and Cerebral Activity

Abstract

Despite increasing interest in and widespread use of robots in education, there is limited research on the effect of voice gender and communication style on affective outcomes. Based on a Q&A interaction model, a within-subject experiment was conducted with a 2 × 2 design, manipulating voice gender (male vs. female) and communication style (functional vs. relational). The study combined subjective evaluations with eye-tracking and fNIRS measurements. We confirmed the effects of voice gender and communication style on subjective perceptions, reported the influence of voice gender on users’ visual attention, and demonstrated the interaction between voice gender and communication style on users’ cerebral activity. The results suggest that the female voice and relational communication style are preferable for educational robots. This study enhances the understanding of users’ visual attention and cerebral activity during interactions with educational robots, providing valuable insights for designing robot voices in educational contexts.