The implications of robot navigation in social space: perceptual effects of socially aware and baseline navigation.

Introduction: Robot navigation in shared environments may influence how robots are socially interpreted by nearby users, beyond its purely functional role in task execution. Prior work has shown that individual navigation features, such as proximity regulation, approach direction, or speed adaptation, can affect user perception; however, fewer studies have examined how these behaviors operate when combined within a single socially aware navigation framework. Understanding how integrated navigation behaviors shape user perception is important for designing robots that can operate appropriately and comfortably in human-centered environments. Methods: We conducted a perceptual evaluation of a socially aware navigation framework that integrates five socially relevant navigation behaviors, including approach direction constraints, side-consistent passing behavior, proximity-based speed adaptation, and user-oriented motion cues. A controlled in-person user study was conducted with 40 participants comparing this socially aware navigation strategy against a baseline costmap-based obstacle avoidance strategy during repeated navigation encounters with a Pepper robot in an office-like environment. Results: The socially aware navigation strategy was associated with more positive evaluations across multiple social and movement-related dimensions, including warmth, likeability, animacy, perceived safety, naturalness of motion, and overall movement preference, while maintaining comparable ratings of competence and comfort. Open-ended responses further indicated that participants frequently described navigation behavior in experiential and social terms related to comfort, awareness, friendliness, and attentiveness. Discussion: These findings suggest that combined socially informed navigation behaviors can meaningfully influence how robot motion is perceived during human-robot interaction. More broadly, the results highlight the importance of designing navigation systems that are not only collision-free and efficient, but also socially interpretable and considerate of nearby users in shared environments.