The Robotic Counseling Center
With the robotic counselor, Cumpa
In this article, we summarize our work “In That Small Space with Just the Two of Us’: User Experiences with Cumpa in a Robotic Counseling Center,” which will be presented and published in the 28th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2025).
Imagine a place that listens to people's daily lives. Here, there is a cute, furry, seal-like robot, Cumpa, that automatically turns on when a person comes in. Upon entering the room, Cumpa says, 'Hello [name]! Yesterday, you mentioned you were feeling [good/not good]. How are you feeling today?'
This place is named as Robotic Counseling Center, and it was installed in an empty room of the researchers’ university campus. 20 participants, spanning from undergrad/grad students to a university staff, were invited and they regularly visited the place for two weeks.
The counseling robot, Cumpa, follows the mini scripts that facilitate visitors to engage in self mental health care activities (academically, micro-interventions). In addition to its psychologist-made scripts, which help visitors deal with own emotions and be mindful, it responded empathetically by utilizing the GPT-4o’s linguistic capacity.
This place is a tool to investigate the following questions:
Does this place effectively promote users’ mental health?
How does interaction with this place impact users’ daily lives and foster a sense of place as a supportive counseling environment?
How do its design and interactions influence user engagement and rapport building?
To find answers, the researchers invited participants to the 2-week regular visits to the center. Then they observed the video recordings and the conversations. Post-study, they provided surveys about mental health and rapport building, and interviewed the participants individually.
Here is the result
There was no significant change of the participants’ mental health measures, partially because of the short study period. However, the visitors found the potential of the Robotic Counselling Center. It gave mental health insights that influenced their daily lives. The external barriers like overlapping exam schedules (causing them to be more stressed than the usual) existed, but they adopt to manage them. As a result, many participants positively said that they are willing to use the Robotic Counseling Center in a real-life setting.
Users constructed own senses of place towards the Robotic Counseling Center. They perceived it as a private place where they could relax, though privacy concerns existed. In addition, they perceived it as a dedicated place for mental health care, which was comfortable, supportive, and different from everyday places.
Both the signs of engagement and disengagement increased over time. Cumpa’s design, softness, and friendly appearance attracted many users, while the mismatch between the formal voice and Cumpa’s appearance distracted some users. Interestingly, the personalized greeting (Hello [name], yesterday, you said that you felt [good/not good] …) generally satisfied them, because it gave a sense of continuity. In addition, rapport with Cumpa was developed through continuity, empathy, and non-judgemental interactions.
Practical Suggestions
The researchers provide following suggestions for anyone who wants to make Robotic Counseling Centers.
Support appropriate user expectation setting through transparency about the Robotic Counseling Center’s capabilities. For instance, it can say “I’ll ask questions to help you reflect on your feelings,” or “Remember, my goal is to help you notice emotions, not solve problems.” Otherwise, mismatched expectations (e.g., users expect the solutions for their problems) can hamper user experience.
Introduce the Robotic Counseling Center as a supportive companion rather than a ‘counselor.’ Users may easily expect the ‘counselor’ role, and look for more than its actual capabilities. The robot should avoid this over-expectation by framing itself as a “practice companion.” Additionally, It can frame itself as a starting point for deeper conversations with human counselors.
Make the Robotic Counseling Center as a connecting bridge between students and on-campus counseling centers. Making the Robotic Counseling Center is a useful idea for the on-campus mental health centers who face scarcity of resources. Consider the following features: appointment scheduling, psycho-education, or emotional pattern summary (before counselor meeting).
The Meaning of Robotic Counseling Center
Furthermore, the researchers asked the participants the meaning of the Robotic Counseling Center, and they found important key words that define its meaning.
Boundary of public/private: “Are we alone there?” The existence of Cumpa in the Robotic Counseling Center makes this question intriguing. Visitors are alone because no human is present inside the Robotic Counseling Center. Simultaneously, they are not alone because Cumpa is there. The center is private because it is separated with the outside world, but it is public because many people share the space of the Robotic Counseling Center.
If you design your own Robotic Counseling Center, consider these aspects: the physical/ritual separation of the Center with the outside world, and the privacy policy.
Boundary with daily lives: The Robotic Counseling Center creates a place for mental health care, for it provides an experience distinguished with daily lives. This demarcation, or place-making, is related to the subjects suitable to discuss with Cumpa. In particular, the researchers find that Cumpa can lead the conversation, and so influence the perception of ‘appropriate’ topics.
Get this take away: What place is a Robotic Counseling Center? It depends on what Cumpa wants to talk about.
Full Paper
If you are interested in our work, check out the full paper here:
