Age-Old Gesture: Analyzing the Intuitive Responses to Robot Handshakes Among Seniors and Young Adults

Successfully implementing robots to support senior adults requires their acceptance. Leveraging nonverbal communication could enhance the ease and intuitiveness of accepting robot assistance. However, it is essential to see how different age groups understand nonverbal communication cues to understand the dynamics between different user groups and assistive robots. Our research specifically delves into the intuitive understanding of handshaking gestures across multiple interactions, focusing on seniors (between 70 and 97) and young (21 and 26) adults. Through a combination of observations and open-ended surveys, we conducted a video observation and thematic analysis. Interestingly, our findings indicate no significant differences between the two age groups, except for reactions and interaction time variables. Furthermore, we report on possible motivations behind the initial reactions in the two age groups, familiarity, and ways to improve the overall Human-Robot Interaction experience potentially.