CultureBot: A Culturally Relevant Humanoid Robotic Dialogue Agent

The use of robots as technologically-based educational tools have been shown to be an effective means of attracting students to science and technology-related academic fields. By developing relatable robotic programs, an increase in interest in the field of technology will occur. For this work, researchers focus on the social interaction capabilities of a humanoid social robot, Pepper. The research leverages the Pepper robot platform using the Softbank NAOqi framework along with the Google Cloud Speech platform to further develop speech and gesture patterns that will afford for a culturally rich engagement interactive experience. By training culturally relevant vocabulary and gestures into the system, the robot will be able to identify verbal cues that will afford decisions on which language will best serve a particular engagement activity (i.e. Social vs. formal, AAVE vs. Standard English). Lab studies will be utilized to test the functionality of the robot's skills and styles, with the expectation of a fully functioning, culturally aware Pepper robot.