Stakeholder perspectives on designing socially acceptable social robots and robot avatars for Dubai and multicultural societies

Robot avatars for customer service are gaining traction in Japan. However, their acceptance in other societal contexts remains underexplored, complicating efforts to design robot avatars suitable for diverse cultural environments. To address this, we interviewed key stakeholders in Dubai's service sector to gain insights into their experiences deploying social robots for customer service, as well as their opinions on the most useful tasks and design features that could maximize customer acceptance of robot avatars in Dubai. Providing information and guiding individuals to specific locations were identified as the most valued functions. Regarding appearance, robotic-looking, highly anthropomorphic designs were the most preferred. Ultra-realistic androids and cartoonish-looking robots elicited mixed reactions, while hybrid androids, low-anthropomorphic robotic designs, and animal-looking robots were considered less suitable or discouraged. Additionally, a psycho-sociological analysis revealed that interactions with robot avatars are influenced by their symbolic meaning, context, and affordances. These findings offer pioneering insights into culturally adaptive robot avatar design, addressing a significant research gap and providing actionable guidelines for deploying socially acceptable robots and avatars in multicultural contexts worldwide.