Studying the influence of the chameleon effect on humans using an android

Communication skills are necessary for robots to get by in daily life. Previous studies have shown that the chameleon effect, which increases the likeability of a person who mimicks another during a conversation, appears not only with humans but also with CG agents. However, if we use humans, they cannot accurately mimic. In addition, if we use a CG agent, it doesnpsilat have a very humanlike appearance. It remains doubtful whether the CG agent reappears in a human-human communication. Thus, we use an android with a very humanlike appearance and approach the principle of human-human communication. In this paper, we compared mimic and non-mimic conditions when an android conversed with subjects in face-to-face. Likeability toward an android increased when the android mimicked its partner. In addition, we confirmed the possibility of using an android to explore human-human communication. These results contribute to verbal communication for robots in daily life.