"I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot

Michaela Honauer; M. Birna van Riemsdijk

doi:10.1145/3772363.3798667

"I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot

Michaela Honauer^*
, M. Birna van Riemsdijk

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

48 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Early encounters between humans and social robots are brief but formative moments that shape future interaction. These moments are hard to study because they rely on pre-reflective, embodied behaviors often missed in task-driven experiments. We propose an embodied, performative methodology in which trained performers improvise with a social robot; subtle relational dynamics are then captured through micro-behavioral video analysis. In five workshops, we observed confident bids for connection, moments of micro-interruption, and adaptive strategies such as mirroring and attunement that repaired disrupted interactions. This lens reveals how early relationality is enacted and maintained, offering HCI researchers new methodological and design insights for making social robots more legible and responsive during first contact.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI EA '26
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas
Place of Publication	New York, NY
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	979-8-4007-2281-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798667
Publication status	Published - 13 Apr 2026
Event	CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2026 - Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Duration: 13 Apr 2026 → 17 Apr 2026

Conference

Conference	CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2026
Abbreviated title	CHI EA 2026
Country/Territory	Spain
City	Barcelona
Period	13/04/26 → 17/04/26

Keywords

Artistic-inspired research
Embodied interaction
Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
Intimate Computing
Relational design

Access to Document

10.1145/3772363.3798667

ArticleFinal published version, 6.23 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Honauer, M., & van Riemsdijk, M. B. (2026). "I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot. In N. Oliver, D. A. Shamma, H. Candello, P. Cesar, P. Lopes, V. Artizzu, F. Draxler, G. Lopez, A. V. Reinschluessel, X. Tong, & P. O. Toups Dugas (Eds.), CHI EA '26 : Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 15 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798667

Honauer, Michaela ; van Riemsdijk, M. Birna. / "I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot. CHI EA '26 : Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Nuria Oliver ; David A. Shamma ; Heloisa Candello ; Pablo Cesar ; Pedro Lopes ; Valentino Artizzu ; Fiona Draxler ; Gustavo Lopez ; Anke V. Reinschluessel ; Xin Tong ; Phoebe O. Toups Dugas. New York, NY : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2026.

@inproceedings{4e4fddb39f1f4b86a45f72298dd26acd,

title = "{"}I felt Like Talking to a Wall{"} - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot",

abstract = "Early encounters between humans and social robots are brief but formative moments that shape future interaction. These moments are hard to study because they rely on pre-reflective, embodied behaviors often missed in task-driven experiments. We propose an embodied, performative methodology in which trained performers improvise with a social robot; subtle relational dynamics are then captured through micro-behavioral video analysis. In five workshops, we observed confident bids for connection, moments of micro-interruption, and adaptive strategies such as mirroring and attunement that repaired disrupted interactions. This lens reveals how early relationality is enacted and maintained, offering HCI researchers new methodological and design insights for making social robots more legible and responsive during first contact.",

keywords = "Artistic-inspired research, Embodied interaction, Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), Intimate Computing, Relational design",

author = "Michaela Honauer and \{van Riemsdijk\}, \{M. Birna\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).; CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2026, CHI EA 2026 ; Conference date: 13-04-2026 Through 17-04-2026",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1145/3772363.3798667",

language = "English",

editor = "Nuria Oliver and Shamma, \{David A.\} and Heloisa Candello and Pablo Cesar and Pedro Lopes and Valentino Artizzu and Fiona Draxler and Gustavo Lopez and Reinschluessel, \{Anke V.\} and Xin Tong and \{Toups Dugas\}, \{Phoebe O.\}",

booktitle = "CHI EA '26",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)",

address = "United States",

}

Honauer, M & van Riemsdijk, MB 2026, "I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot. in N Oliver, DA Shamma, H Candello, P Cesar, P Lopes, V Artizzu, F Draxler, G Lopez, AV Reinschluessel, X Tong & PO Toups Dugas (eds), CHI EA '26 : Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 15, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York, NY, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2026, Barcelona, Spain, 13/04/26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798667

"I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot. / Honauer, Michaela; van Riemsdijk, M. Birna.
CHI EA '26 : Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Nuria Oliver; David A. Shamma; Heloisa Candello; Pablo Cesar; Pedro Lopes; Valentino Artizzu; Fiona Draxler; Gustavo Lopez; Anke V. Reinschluessel; Xin Tong; Phoebe O. Toups Dugas. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2026. 15.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - "I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot

AU - Honauer, Michaela

AU - van Riemsdijk, M. Birna

PY - 2026/4/13

Y1 - 2026/4/13

N2 - Early encounters between humans and social robots are brief but formative moments that shape future interaction. These moments are hard to study because they rely on pre-reflective, embodied behaviors often missed in task-driven experiments. We propose an embodied, performative methodology in which trained performers improvise with a social robot; subtle relational dynamics are then captured through micro-behavioral video analysis. In five workshops, we observed confident bids for connection, moments of micro-interruption, and adaptive strategies such as mirroring and attunement that repaired disrupted interactions. This lens reveals how early relationality is enacted and maintained, offering HCI researchers new methodological and design insights for making social robots more legible and responsive during first contact.

AB - Early encounters between humans and social robots are brief but formative moments that shape future interaction. These moments are hard to study because they rely on pre-reflective, embodied behaviors often missed in task-driven experiments. We propose an embodied, performative methodology in which trained performers improvise with a social robot; subtle relational dynamics are then captured through micro-behavioral video analysis. In five workshops, we observed confident bids for connection, moments of micro-interruption, and adaptive strategies such as mirroring and attunement that repaired disrupted interactions. This lens reveals how early relationality is enacted and maintained, offering HCI researchers new methodological and design insights for making social robots more legible and responsive during first contact.

KW - Artistic-inspired research

KW - Embodied interaction

KW - Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)

KW - Intimate Computing

KW - Relational design

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038099752

U2 - 10.1145/3772363.3798667

DO - 10.1145/3772363.3798667

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105038099752

BT - CHI EA '26

A2 - Oliver, Nuria

A2 - Shamma, David A.

A2 - Candello, Heloisa

A2 - Cesar, Pablo

A2 - Lopes, Pedro

A2 - Artizzu, Valentino

A2 - Draxler, Fiona

A2 - Lopez, Gustavo

A2 - Reinschluessel, Anke V.

A2 - Tong, Xin

A2 - Toups Dugas, Phoebe O.

PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

CY - New York, NY

T2 - CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2026

Y2 - 13 April 2026 through 17 April 2026

ER -

Honauer M, van Riemsdijk MB. "I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot. In Oliver N, Shamma DA, Candello H, Cesar P, Lopes P, Artizzu V, Draxler F, Lopez G, Reinschluessel AV, Tong X, Toups Dugas PO, editors, CHI EA '26 : Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). 2026. 15 doi: 10.1145/3772363.3798667

"I felt Like Talking to a Wall" - A Performative Study on Early Encounters with a Social Robot

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this