Science & Technology

Even a virtual handshake can establish trust

By T.K. Randall
May 11, 2015 ·  8 comments

The experiment was conducted using a robot called Nao. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Jiuguang Wang A firm handshake can often work wonders to help establish trust during business negotiations, but now according to a new study conducted by scientists at the University of Bath a handshake can even work when the two people shaking hands happen to be located thousands of miles apart.

To test this, researchers set up a series of mock house purchase negotiations involving a 58cm-tall humanoid robot called Nao which could be remote operated by another person using a computer.Remarkably it turned out that using the robot to shake hands was no less effective at building trust and confidence in the deal than if the two participants were shaking hands in person.

"This experiment highlights just how important the symbolic ritual of shaking hands is upon the way people come to judge others as being trustworthy and willing to co-operate," said Dr Chris Bevan.

"Using a robotic avatar, we were able to demonstrate that this effect holds true even when a person cannot see the face of their counterpart."

Source: iol.co.za | Comments (8)

Tags: Robot, Handshake