ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Robot. AI
Sec. Human-Robot Interaction
Public Acceptance of Cybernetic Avatars in the Service Sector: Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey
Provisionally accepted
- 1Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- 2Kabushiki Kaisha Kokusai Denki Tsushin Kiso Gijutsu Kenkyujo, Soraku District, Japan
- 3Kyoto Daigaku, Kyoto, Japan
- 4Osaka Daigaku, Suita, Japan
- 5Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
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Cybernetic avatars are hybrid interaction robots or digital representations that combine autonomous capabilities with teleoperated control. This study investigates the acceptance of cybernetic avatars, with particular emphasis on robot avatars for customer service. Specifically, we explore how acceptance varies as a function of modality (physical vs. virtual), robot appearance (e.g., android, robotic-looking, cartoonish), deployment settings (e.g., shopping malls, hotels, hospitals), and functional tasks (e.g., providing information, patrolling). To this end, we conducted a large-scale survey with over 1,000 participants in Dubai. As one of the most multicultural societies worldwide, Dubai offers a rare opportunity to capture opinions from multiple cultural clusters within a single setting simultaneously, thereby overcoming the limitations of nationally bound samples and providing a more global picture of acceptance. Overall, cybernetic avatars received a high level of acceptance, with physical robot avatars receiving higher acceptance than digital avatars. In terms of appearance, robot avatars with a highly anthropomorphic robotic appearance were the most accepted, followed by cartoonish designs and androids. Animal-like appearances received the lowest level of acceptance. Among the tasks, providing information and guidance was rated as the most valued. Shopping malls, airports, public transport stations, and museums were the settings with the highest acceptance, whereas healthcare-related spaces received lower levels of support. An analysis by community cluster revealed, among other findings, that Emirati respondents were particularly accepting of android appearances, whereas participants from the 'Other Asia' cluster were particularly accepting of cartoonish appearances. Our study underscores the importance of incorporating citizen feedback from the early stages of design and deployment to enhance societal acceptance of cybernetic avatars.
Keywords: Cybernetic Avatars, human-robot interaction, Multicultural contexts, robot avatars, Social Robots, technology acceptance
Received: 06 Oct 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Aymerich-Franch, Taha, Miyashita, Kamide, Ishiguro and Dario. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Laura Aymerich-Franch
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