Research Design Connection: Petmorphic Design

by Sally Augustin, Ph.D. | August 31st, 2020

Row, Kim and Nam used a novel approach to design smart cars; similar, innovative methodologies could be useful in other contexts. As the research team reports, their “research was based on a petmorphic design approach, which defines design attributes assuming an intelligent device can interact like a pet dog…we present a set of pet-dog behavioral traits (PBT) and their application in enhancing emotional interaction in smart cars. Firstly, using an interview-based explorative study, we identified key pet-dog characteristics that elicit affection in owners and four PBTs that could be used to design smart car interactions: self-expression, empathy, faithfulness and innocence. Secondly, we conducted an online survey-based study to examine how PBTs can be incorporated into smart cars for different scenarios. The results indicated that faithfulness was typically preferred in routine scenarios while traits associated with innocence were less preferred.” Yea-Kyung Row, Se-Young Kim, and Tek-Jin Nam. 2020. “Using Pet-Dog Behavior …